04/11/2024
Day 17/90 of your DAILY FINANCIAL WELLNESS TIPS...
Let me TELL you a STORY that I ALWAYS SHARE with my CLIENTS because this was HOW I LEARNED a VERY IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON...
My GRANDPARENTS died a FEW YEARS AGO when THEY were in their MID-80s...
They died ONE MONTH APART after LENGTHY HOSPITAL STAYS and a LONG BATTLE with SEVERAL ILLNESSES...
Being a Registered Nurse, I was their PRIMARY CAREGIVER in the years leading up to their DEATHS...
During their FUNERAL, I noticed something PECULIAR about HOW WE COMFORT the FAMILY MEMBERS of those that have PASSED ON...
I NOTICED that a lot of people APPROACH ME and TELL ME, "JUDGE, IT'S OK."
THINK about THAT...
My GRANDPARENTS just DIED after SUFFERING from SEVERAL ILLNESSES...
WHY would they THINK that it would be COMFORTING to TELL ME that EVERYTHING was "OK"?
It WASN'T UNTIL a FEW MONTHS LATER that I UNDEESTOOD WHY...
It was at ANOTHER FUNERAL...
It was the FUNERAL of MY UNCLE'S FRIEND...
He was 40 YEARS OLD...
His WIFE was a HOUSEWIFE...
They had TWO DAUGHTERS, the ELDEST was 13 and about to start High School...
Now, let me ASK YOU THIS...
Do YOU THINK it would be PROPER to go to the WIDOW of the DECEASED and TELL HER that "it's ok"?
Of course NOT!
But WHY was it ALRIGHT for PEOPLE to TELL ME that the DEATH of my GRANDPARENTS was "OK" but NOT ALRIGHT for me to TELL THAT GRIEVING WIDOW that HER HUSBAND'S DEATH waa "OK"?
It was BECAUSE the CONTEXT of our SITUATIONS were DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT...
My GRANDPARENTS lived a FULL and FRUITFUL LIFE...
Their CHILDREN were WELL ESTABLISHED...
They've seen their GRANDCHILDREN grow...
They were already suffering from the MANY ILLNESSES of OLD AGE...
It was time for them to REST...
In fact, when I was SITTING In a PLASTIC MONOBLOC CHAIR nodding off beside my GRANDFATHER'S STRETCHER after more than 24 HOURS in the EMERGENCY ROOM waiting for a room to become available so he could be ADMITTED AGAIN for the 3RD TIME in span of 2 MONTHS, HE TURNED to ME and SAID in a GENTLE and CALM VOICE, "PLEASE LET ME GO."
Those words left me SPEECHLESS, which for those who know me, is a VERY DIFFICULT thing to DO...
It was ONLY NOW that I REALIZED that those were the WORDS of a MAN who has LIVED A LIFE FREE OF REGRET...
My UNCLE'S FRIEND on the OTHER HAND, left his LOVED ONES with SO MUCH FEAR and UNCERTANTY...
WHO would PAY for the FUNERAL EXPENSES?
HOW would they PROVIDE for their BASIC NEEDS as THEY RECOVER?
WOULD the CHILDREN be ABLE to CONTINUE SCHOOLING or WOULD THEY NEED to STOP to HELP their MOTHER EARN a LIVING so they could SURVIVE?
DEATH ISN'T SCARY...
WE ALL DIE...
What's REALLY SCARY is DYING with UNFULFILLED RESPONSIBILITIES, with HOPES and DREAMS for YOURSELF and for YOUR LOVED ONES which CANNOT be REALIZED...
This is the REASON why as LONG as WE ARE ABLE and AS LONG as THERE are PEOPLE DEPENDING on US, whether it's OURSELVES or OUR LOVED ONES, WE SHOULD PREPARE...
Now, GO and LIVE a LIFE that YOU WON'T REGRET LIVING...