| Posted by Kelly Salwei |
Mary O'Brien: The Road Next Taken
 Our guest speaker was introduced by our very own Dan O’Brien who just happens to be married to our speaker. Mary is a graduate of the University of Illinois and began her career teaching English and later obtained her Masters. While her children were growing up, she was a childhood educator and become a parenting specialist and parent educator. Most recently she has been the continuing education coordinator in Hastings, MN. Mary is a Certified First Steps Advanced Care Planning Facilitator.
She has enjoyed working with the 50+ crowd in Hastings with a special interest in assisting families with advanced health care directives. Doctors say that “families are the least equipped to answer care questions but are usually the ones in that spot.” The advanced directive names a health care agent who speaks for you. Generally, the spouse is not the best agent. The agent should be someone strong who can set aside there emotions to honor the wishes of the individual.
Without a health care directive, a patient can be over treated and the family is under a burden which can result in conflict. Factors affecting the decision on an agent include cultural, spiritual or personal beliefs; how much health care would you like to receive in case of surveillance or injury; and who is strong enough to honor your wishes even if they don’t agree.
There are many forms of directives. Check out www.honoringchoices.org. Mary recommends a Netflix documentary titled Extremis and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.
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Announcements
- 12/20 – Holiday Party followed by Board Meeting (arrive by 7:15 a.m.)
- Ale has moved to her new family (Jeff and Kim Gerst). Thank you to Blixrud’s for being first hosts.
- Please respond to District 5950 survey when invited.
- 1/12 – Rotary and Chamber of Commerce co-sponsoring Test Drive, Next Step, Reality at EPHS
- Rotary foundation pledges are at half our goal. Make your contributions before year end for tax deductible contribution.
Spotlight on Jane McGinty
 Jane is married to Chris and they have three children. They met in New York City where they both worked. Jane is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus. The whole family enjoys the arts. Jane recently left CH Robinson after 19 years in customer service for a fortune 300 Company providing global supply chain and logistics services. She is currently looking for her next challenge working with large companies and logistics services. Jane’s father is a 40-year perfect attendance Rotarian. He was a Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) leader and Jane was a RYE student which led to her interest in becoming a RYE leader.
Happy Fines
- Dan O’Brien celebrated three birthdays last weekend and got the santa suit to the cleaners.
- Pei Ling Jamison reported that she ran into Janet (from Biaggi’s) at Axel’s where she works now Tuesday through Saturday.
- Roger Jorgensen congratulated the Vikings on their victory and reported that he has been travelling a lot lately including a trip to Devils Lake, ND during a blizzard.
Visitors
Cheryl Eastbourne - Prospective Member, 3rd visit
Asad Aliweyd - Prospective Member, 1st visit
Lily Sherwood - Guest of Frank Sherwood
Exchange Student - Ale Pena Gonzalez
Student Interns: Stella Lindbergh, Carter Mason
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