The Relationships We Build Now Can Matter Greatly Later

My parents, as you may know, were teachers. My father was a religious brother from about age 13 into his 40's and got a department store job after leaving and finally got a teaching position that he held until I started college. My mother was a teacher working for public schools for a few years after graduating college, then spent six years teaching in Sudan and Kenya as a Lay Missionary. They married "late in life" for the times as they used to say. They never had a ton of money, had grown up during the depression so were very frugal in general and I always joked around that I wondered if they had some side racket they didn't discuss because I never understood how they put us both through college. Could only ever buying store brand Oatie-O's and 3/$1 canned food or boxed pasta (or whatever it was) really amount to that much?
In fact, my dad had worked to "make his money work for him" quite a bit. In large part with the help of a few key players, including one young man in particular coming up in the world.
My dad did his best to provide for us past his lifetime. When his school offered the opportunity to work with a financial advisor, Dad jumped at it and his FA became a fixture at my house growing up.

My dad loved to set out a nice spread periodically, for his bridge friends, for our meals on holidays or sometimes just because, he learned to carve vegetables in some continuing ed class once, so palm tree carrots with pepper fronds and rose radishes were commonplace. He would set out a more modest spread when his life insurance people and his FA would come over, but there would always be a snack and a coffee or something offered.
And my dad, like me, loved to talk story. He would invite door-to-door evangelists in to talk religion and philosophy and he build bridges this way. He talked story with everyone who was a part of his life, especially those who were working in service of his family.

My dad loved to set out a nice spread periodically, for his bridge friends, for our meals on holidays or sometimes just because, he learned to carve vegetables in some continuing ed class once, so palm tree carrots with pepper fronds and rose radishes were commonplace. He would set out a more modest spread when his life insurance people and his FA would come over, but there would always be a snack and a coffee or something offered.
And my dad, like me, loved to talk story. He would invite door-to-door evangelists in to talk religion and philosophy and he build bridges this way. He talked story with everyone who was a part of his life, especially those who were working in service of his family.