Our friend Roni wrote this article about the loss of their son Dalton. [ http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2014/04/27/daltons-16th-birthday-memorial/ ]
The Time to Buy Life Insurance is Now
by Roni Lambrecht
As most of you know, I lost my only child 18 weeks ago in an ATV accident over Christmas break.
Dalton was only 15 years old and our entire world revolved around him. The grief that goes along with losing a child is unimaginable and beyond explanation. It’s baffling what emotions can do to your brain and how they affect your every move and decision, if you can even make decisions. I have a hard time even figuring out how to move one foot in front of the other these days. That said, I am so very thankful for my brain working in 2012 when I finally purchased life insurance for my son and each of my sister’s children.
I never intended to actually use the life insurance for its purpose, as the inexpensive policies I purchased carried a guarantee that would help each of the kids later in life, where they could raise the death benefit up to $450k without ever having to re-qualify for the insurance. To me, that was a safety worth paying for, just in case any of them ended up with a debilitating disease that would not allow them to qualify for life insurance later in life.
Dalton’s accident happened in California, so we had to cover all of the standard expenses there, as well as covering them again here in Colorado, but then there was the added cost of transporting him home in the proper container at the proper temperature, paying the funeral home in California to work with the funeral home here, then paying for the casket here for the viewing (because the box we brought him home in was not for viewing). Then we had the blessing, celebration of life, programs, pictures, urns, cremation, food and drinks and snacks to feed everyone while they were here, travel expenses, etc. With all the expenses, this could have bankrupted us. As of today, we have incurred over $16,000, not including any of the time we’ve spent away from work, or medical expenses incurred at the accident scene.
Had I not spent the $60 a year for the life insurance policy I bought for Dalton, we never would have been able to give him the celebration his short, beautiful life deserved, nor could we have made our house payment, or paid any other bills from then until now. More importantly, though, we would not have had the brainpower to figure out how to make it all work. That, in and of itself, proves to me that life insurance is something that must be budgeted for every single month. In fact, I am in the process now of setting up life insurance that my husband and I will fund for several of the kids in our lives. It truly is that important.
So, please, if you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or friends with children, who do not have life insurance, there are so many other benefits more than just a death benefit. Please, look into it for a birthday or Christmas gift or just because. It’s worth it just for the guarantee that they’ll be covered when they grow up and have babies of their own.
My husband and I never dreamed this could happen to our son, but it did. Please think about it, and then DO something about it. Waiting until tomorrow could be too late.