We think we have all the time in the world. We know we will die someday, but as humans, we think it will be a long way off in the future. And hopefully it will be. But unfortunately we don’t know when it will happen. Putting things off, especially estate planning, can have a serious effect on those we leave behind.
This article is very personal, but I think it’s important to share this story. It’s a reminder that life is short. Life is fragile. Life is important.
Last week, a pillar of my local community passed away, completely unexpected. He was the owner of a restaurant in my small town, and on any given night, you could find many of the locals hanging out there. My husband and I called it our Cheers. We loved showing up on a Friday night to pick up dinner, and chatting with everyone, especially the owner, while we waited for our order to be ready.
His name was Larry. My three year old called him “Yarry.” When we went to his restaurant, she walked around like she owned the place, and he let her. My five year old picked dandelions for him and he acted like they were the best gift he’d ever received. The night he died, my husband went to pick up a to go order while I put the kids to bed. He texted me to tell me that Larry sent kisses to the kids. Their eyes lit up. He was a good man.
Larry was a huge supporter of first responders, and you could often find them sitting at the bar after a shift. Larry wanted to give back to the local community, and he created a foundation that raises thousands of dollars each year for a local family through an annual golf tournament. He was a good man with a huge heart.
Our little town will not be the same without him. I won’t be the same. You see, Larry and I used to joke about how he needed to get a plan together because he didn’t have one. He has a wife, kids and stepchildren. He owns a successful business. But he never got around to doing his estate plan. I would jokingly bring it up to him occasionally. He would say, “yeah, I’ll do it.” He recently celebrated his 59th birthday, and I called him old. I told him, “you need to get your plan done!” We joked. We thought we had more time.
But last week, as he drove the two miles home from his restaurant to his house after a normal Friday night shift, he suffered a fatal heart attack. And now his wife and family are left grieving and picking up the pieces. All because we thought we had more time.
Estate planning is something that is easily put off until we “get around to it.” There are a lot of reasons people don’t make it a priority. It’s easy to think we are too young, don’t have enough assets, are too busy, it’s too expensive. But the truth is, everyone has a need to create some kind of plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it has to be done. If creating or updating your estate plan is something you’ve been thinking about, but haven’t done yet, get it done. Do it for your family. Do it for the people who will be left to grieve and pick up the pieces when something happens to you. Don’t wait.