Life Insurance an Act of Love:

I want to tell you about my personal experiences with Life Insurance. One week before the winter holiday of 1996, my neighbors invited me to their home. While there he asked me to look at his insurance. Most everything was in good order, until I saw that his Life Insurance plan was for accidents only. Larry was surprised, and asked me to come see them in January, after they had recovered from holiday spending. One day after Christmas Larry shocked us all. Kathy called to tell me that Larry had died instantly from a heart attack. Nobody suspected any health problem at all.Two weeks before that, I helped a younger couple with their plan. Jim had experienced health problems some years previously, so he had to pay considerably more than normal, to the tune of $200.00 per month. He mumbled about the cost as he wrote the check, so I stopped writing, sat back, and we observed each others' countenance eye to eye. I asked him why he was doing this. Jim was of greater stature than me and had a strong, booming voice. But he whimpered to me... "I love my wife." In July of 2000 I went to visit him, because I heard he had a serious cancer. He shook my hand with his normal firmness, and the burly guy hugged me. He said nothing about himself or what we had done. I could not bring up the subject either.

About a month later he passed away. When I delivered a check for $250,000 to his widow, she told me how this would be such a help. I asked her if she knew why her husband had purchased insurance. She reflected for some moments. She said how much she was going to miss him after twenty-five years together, and then her face lit up. "Oh, I … yes" she said. "Yes", I interrupted. "There is only one reason why someone would spend their hard-earned money on something that will never benefit their own self." She knew what is was saying, namely that he loved her.

In September of 2001 I attended a Memorial for a friend who died of heart problems at age 44. I had no idea that Wayne's health problems were that serious. The moment that I heard of his death, I hurriedly called his wife, and then the Life Insurance Company. I told them that they needed to pay up for a life policy I had sold my friend. But NO- his policy had lapsed the year before his death. My heart sank. (I was no longer working for that Company, so I had no access to client records so that I could be aware of the lapse in coverage.) My friend of ten years was too stressed out with other needs to handle the cost of his Life policy.

So far, I have delivered checks to two widows, one widower and to one couple who lost their daughter and then their son. That couple is my wife and I, as I will explain.

I advocate life insurance to almost everyone, and I have practiced what I preach. On March 1. 1984 we lost our precious and only daughter, Danielle to crib death at 3 1/2 months. So we were already keenly aware that death can visit even a young family.

In 1991 my wife lost her mother to cancer, and at the same time we spent three months with our oldest son when he nearly died of I.T.P. In 1998 my dad committed suicide, and my wife lost her father and stepfather from cancer. On 8/11/01 my wife, our youngest son, my wife's sister and her husband were all four horribly injured in a head collision. A 16 year old boy fell asleep at the wheel while driving 70 mph. My wife was driving 55 mph. That took a year out of all of our lives, but thankfully they all survived. My wife is disabled and unable to work. Our insurance has had to pay nearly $1,000,000 for medical bills. The boy had no insurance. Our youngest son had a fractured skull, but healed quickly. My wife's sister and brother-in-law were also badly injured.

We thought that we were through with losing children, that one child was enough, and we had experienced enough close calls. But in January of 2002 our second son (Benny), stopped calling home. He had fought bi-polar, asthma, mitral valve prolapse, hip perthes and hypertension for years, and was experiencing epileptic grand and mini mall seizures. He was at the Marine base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Our son first attempted suicide by jumping off of a cliff. His second attempt was by drinking gas mixed with sulfur. The third time he breathed a rodent fume bomb. Finally, Benny hid himself in the forest and ended his life with a shotgun at age twenty. We searched for him more than three months. The Marines found him March 3, 2002, and one weeks later the Marines reported his death to us.

When we began paying for the life insurance policies for our children in their early years, it was a real financial challenge to pay so much. But we wanted it to help our children when they married and had families of their own. Out of our four, two had close calls and two have died.

When a loved one dies, the survivors are already suffering from the loss. When we add the financial burdens to that, it serves to intensify our loss.

We would have been left high and dry to pay for his burial. However, we had planned ahead and struggled to keep insurance premiums paid.

If you speak to almost any beneficiary survivor, they will tell you that it is worth the effort. And they will mention how honored they feel that someone cared enough for them to help them through life.

Husbands are often the one who takes out Live coverage. But some couples overlook the loss of the wife-mother. The lady of the family makes a contribution to the family equal to the man of the house. In addition, many overlook children riders. It is inexpensive and very worth the cost. Another thing that you should consider is the disability rider. It pays for you insurance premium after about six months passes when you have been determined to be permanently disabled.

I ask you to take a moment now to kiss and hug your loved ones. As we consider your plan, remember that Life Insurance is indeed an act of Love.