Opinions

Dear Savvy Senior, What types of funeral benefits are available to old veterans? My 83-year-old father, who has Alzheimer’s disease, served during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Planning Ahead Dear Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) National Cemetery Administration actually offers a variety of underutilized burial benefits to veterans as well as their spouses and dependents.

Driving out to St. Rose last Friday for John Hillman's funeral was a lot like pulling in to one of his auctions.

Random Thoughts At the beginning of last week, NFL star center Jason Kelce held a press conference to announce his retirement from football. The announcement itself was not really a surprise.

Savvy Senior Dear Savvy Senior, Does Medicare offer any financial assistance programs to help seniors with their medication costs? I recently enrolled in a Medicare drug plan, but I take some expensive medications that have high out-ofpocket costs and need some help. Living on a Shoestring Dear Living, Yes, there’s a low-income subsidy program called ‘Extra Help’ that assists Medicare beneficiaries on a tight budget by paying for their monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and co-payments related to their Medicare (Part D) prescription drug coverage.

I've been saying this a lot in the last few weeks – when it comes to visiting family, some of the most exciting trips are those left as unplanned as possible. That proved to be the case recently when Kim and I took a long and winding trip from Wichita to Chicago, then to Sacramento, Calif, and finally back to Wichita, all to see two of my kids.

Last week, I shared the first leg of the long and winding visit Kim and I had recently with two of my kids – Katie in Chicago, and Bill in Sacramento, Calif. Kim and I jokingly called our nearly twoweek journey the “Burmuda Triangle” because we did all of our traveling by one-way tickets.

This is a message to our high school sports teams. Please, do a little less.

Dear Savvy Senior, Do you have any suggestions on divvying up my personal possessions to my kids after I’m gone without causing hard feelings or conflict? I have a lot of jewelry, art, family heirlooms and antique furniture, and four grown kids that don’t always see eye-to-eye on things. Conflicted Parent Dear Conflicted, Divvying up personal possessions among adult children or other loved ones can often be a tricky task.

If you have been reading my column for very long, you might remember a fancy lemon tart I made last year about this time. It was a French recipe and included making everything from scratch.

Back home last week, I finally had a chance to reflect on the long and winding visit Kim and I had recently with two of my kids – Katie in Chicago, and Bill in Sacramento, Calif. Kim and I jokingly called our nearly twoweek journey the “Burmuda Triangle” because we did all of our traveling by one-way tickets.