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My Journey
My Bear Hug Story
Along with a number of financial advisors, I am sponsoring a panel discussion called, “Planning for the Quality of the Rest of Your Life,” About 100 of the hosting advisors’ clients were starting to arrive. With every panel discussions, I always insisted that the panelists meet ahead of time to get to know one another. The “usual suspects” were there: estate planning attorney, CPA, Social Security, financial advisors, and everyone invited to participate by the host advisors and me.
I always recommended that they include what I called “feet on the street” or local Long Term Care service providers who could speak to the value of having Long Term Care benefits pay for care. That evening, I was introduced to a local home health nurse. It was a simple “nice to meet you,” and then I was off to the next greeting.
Suddenly, the home health nurse came racing toward me from across the room! She got right in my face and said, “Are you with GE (my carrier at the time)?” and I said Yes. She raised her voice even closer to my face and asked, “You are? You’re with GE???” I admit that my first thought was, “What’s wrong with her appliances?”
She draped me in a huge bear hug of an embrace, crying, “Thank you; thank you for helping my father. Thank you for taking such good care of my father.” She is actually crying; she has me and several others crying, and we are due on stage at any minute for the panel discussion in front of 100 guests.
What was that about? Her father’s Long Term Care benefits meant that much to her and the entire family. She was that grateful.
Wait a second! I was not the agent on her father’s policy. I never met her father. This was a huge awakening for me. It isn’t so much about the clients who appreciate my efforts during the education or application process. It about how better they feel when we get coverage put into place.
In my future there is another daughter like the home health nurse. Or a son, spouse, or granddaughter who has that much gratitude for work done with their loved one, perhaps decades earlier.
For me, it’s the confidence in the difference I’ve made, the details of which I’ll NEVER know.