Daily Mirror

Susan’s got giving down to a fine art

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THERE’S an underlying panic, a constant worry that plagues me. And I think actress Susan Sarandon might be able to help.

It’s all to do with my poor mum – the mum I once knew – disappeari­ng into her early-onset Alzheimer’s in her 50s. Becoming someone the laughing, happy, kind, smiley her wouldn’t recognise. Not knowing friends she’d known for years. Or us – Dad, my brothers and me. So I have a lingering fear that the real me might vanish early too, especially as Dad went the same way in his early 60s.

Hopefully it’ll turn out to be an unfounded fear, but I still have this constant dread that I’ll start not being me before I’ve had a chance to sort all the photos, tell my boys about their heritage and tell them things they’re really not interested in right now, just like my own surly teenage self.

So it’s about the photos, a will, my financial documents, things I’d rather they didn’t see, things I want them to have.

Who do you give your jewellery to when you have boys? My prized books – why would they want my treasured books when they do everything on their damn phones? Who do I give them to? I don’t want to go before telling them they’re not to part with my mum’s wedding and engagement rings. There’s so much, it panics me. But Susan Sarandon may well be my saviour ; the preservati­on of my sanity before I shuffle off. The Hollywood star, older than me but still very much alive and engaged, has revealed she’s giving her valuable art collection – including some Picasso etchings, natch – to her three children while she’s still here to see them enjoy it (and to make sure they realise the value of it, probably).

Aged 70, she says: “Right now I’m in the process of giving everything away… I’m passing everything on to my children while I’m still alive”.

I guess 70 is a good time to start clearing out. But what if I’m ‘“gone” by then? My mind a fuzz of confusion, no memories, just fear and frailty?

I can’t do it now though – teenage sons are only interested in themselves, their mates, football and food. It’ll all end up on the floor or under the bed with rotting pizzas and dirty underwear. My precious hand-me-downs wouldn’t be precious to them. Maybe I’ll sort it and leave notes, so they know what things are and what they meant? Or maybe I should heed the advice given to Susan by fellow actress MaryLouise Parker: “When you’re on your deathbed, none of these other things will matter.” But they will. What if one of them gives my mum’s engagement ring to someone I don’t like? What if...? I think I need to speak to Susan.

If I did it now, my precious possession­s would end up with their dirty underpants

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