The headline and accompanying article were only 3 sentences long: "Tragedy Strikes Local Family - Donald Jenkins was killed yesterday evening in a single car accident when the vehicle he was driving hit a patch of ice and lost control striking a concrete bridge support. He is survived by his wife and three children.”
Can two sentences sum up the life of Don Jenkins?
No way. You see I knew Don Jenkins and I bet you have friends just like him. A great guy, a loving husband and a caring father. Heck, you might be just like him yourself. Let me take a moment to share with you the story behind the story:
The accident occurred on a Friday evening in early December. I had just talked with Don earlier that afternoon and he was on top of the world. So many things were going right for him, he joked, it just wasn’t fair for anyone else. He and his wife Marianne had been married for 24 years and she had given him three terrific kids. The oldest, Sarah, had announced at Thanksgiving that she was engaged and was going to be getting married the following fall. Everyone liked her fiancé and they were already making plans for a lovely wedding with lots of friends and family.
Next in line was his son Stephen who was a senior in high school. Stephen was a well-rounded kid who did well in school and was busy applying to a number of colleges. He hoped to get accepted to an Ivy League school and his grades were strong enough that he might just get in.
Finally, there was Tony who was a sophomore in high school. Tony was a great basketball player, good enough to play varsity, and was excited as the season was just getting under way. Don had not missed one of Tony’s games since he was in the sixth grade.
For Don, well he was on a roll too. He had gotten a promotion over the summer that gave him a significant pay raise. Enough for he and Marianne to buy a larger home in a nicer part of town.
When I talked to him earlier that afternoon, he was making plans to leave work around 5:00 PM, go home and change, then he and Marianne were going to their first Christmas party of the holiday season. He was telling me he was looking out of his office window at a light snow falling.
Unbelievably, at approximately 5:52PM Don Jenkins was pronounced dead on the scene. Apparently, according to police reports, he was traveling down the road and hit an icy spot which caused him to loose control of his car and hit the bridge support head-on.
While Don’s death was a great loss to those who knew him, it nearly tore apart his family. You must understand , I loved Don like a brother, but there was one thing that he never did that I hope you take away as a lesson from this story.
Don never finished the application for the life insurance policy I had sent him. I had already filled in everything for him. All he had to do was sign it. Every time I asked him about it, he always put me off by telling me he would get around to it when he had time. He was just to busy, he said.
When Don died at the age of 48, his “estate” consisted of a $400,000 house on which he owed $325,000, some small stock and IRA investments, three cars, and $22,000 in credit card debt.
· There was no life insurance to act as income replacement for the next 20 years.
· There was no life insurance to pay off the mortgage debt, credit cards, or auto loans.
· There was no life insurance to pay for the kids college.
· There was no life insurance to pay for Sarah’s wedding.
Marianne ended up having to sell the house and take a job in order to make ends meet.
The really aggravating thing was that Don was in decent health and could have gotten a $1,000,000 20 year term life policy for around $150 per month. That $1,000,000 would have gone to his family tax free in a lump sum and would have done a lot of good for his family at a time they needed it most.
Why do I share this story with you? I want you to be aware that the decisions you make (or don’t make) can have a major impact on your loved ones. Whether you buy your life insurance from us or get it from someone else, just do it! Before it’s too late.
Don didn’t plan on dying when he did. Few people ever do. Take responsibility and take action.
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