The CJC chatted to Nicky Stein-Aginsky about her new book.
What gave you the idea to put together your book, Your Life in a Nutshell?
The concept was first thought of all those years ago when we had power outages resulting in cold showers, being locked in/out of the garage/driveway and lights going on and off at random times due to forgetting to reset all the time switches. Two years ago, after both my parents were ill and passed away I realised how little I knew of their affairs, (household issues, financial, medical etc). I decided it was time to complete the project.
Have you personally needed any of the information that is in here?
When my father was still with us he kept a list of all the operations he and my mother had undergone and medicines with dosages that they took. Every time it was changed, the lists were updated. After my father passed away, my brother continued updating my mother’s list. We kept a hardcopy in case of emergencies. My mother was taken to hospital many times. It is very difficult to remember all the necessary information in a time of stress or panic and this made our hospital visits and ambulance trips easier as we could focus on other pressing issues. (At one stage the doctors asked if my brother was a doctor with all this information!)
Were there any challenges in putting together the book?
Challenges. The first big hurdle is having the belief in myself that I could do it. Once I had the ball rolling I worried about it not getting completed fast enough!
What do you think are the most critical pieces of information people need to know and have access to?
I believe all the information is equally critical. It all depends where you are in your life and what situation you find yourself in. If you have children and G-d forbid something happens to them, the information on children is important. If someone passes away, where to find their financial information and who to contact is important. If you are sick, your day to day and medical information is important.
Do you have advice for other hopeful authors?
Believe in yourself. Talk to lots of people —the right people, at the right time. Don’t be in a hurry and be prepared to work hard. There are big learning curves, lots of redoing and you have to be prepared for many disappointments along the way.
The book is available through the author: nicky@stein.org.za.
