Archie Brown was feeling old. He had just been to the funeral for his friend Leon. Leon had contracted mesothelioma, probably from working around asbestos insulation at the power plant, where he'd been employed for 30 years. It was a terrible cancer and the treatment was hard. But Leon had been so brave. Archie was about to embark on a depression-induced sentimental journey.
Archie and Leon had been neighbors for 25 years. They had been involved in community service, they had coached Little Dribblers together, had been scoutmasters together. They had even become volunteers at the local drug rehab & alcohol treatment center. Fortunately, their friendship never needed rehab.
There were no secrets kept from each other. Archer remembered the cruise that the two families had taken together a couple of years before, to the Bahamas. When they got home, Archie and Leon had enrolled in a weight loss program at the gym. Oh, how they had eaten on the ship!
Archie's thoughts drifted to the situation their two sons and gotten into on the Internet by visiting a casino online. The boys had gotten into debt rather quickly. Archie had to transfer money to his son's account so that he could clear up the loans he had taken out. Mikey had even gone to one of those quickie places that offer payday. He had maxed out his credit cards, thinking that it would be okay because actually they were reward cards.
Like so many kids, Mikey thought that if he kept gambling, he could win enough to get ahead. He had hoped to win enough to pay for his car insurance. But when he got behind, he tried to reduce debt, at least enough so he would not need the dental plan.
But that was all taken care of now for Archie and Mikey. Their efforts and a little debt consolidation had erased the problem. They had gotten a free credit report on the internet and found their credit score was back to an acceptable level. Archie was once again receiving offers in the mail for low interest credit cards!
It had not been so easy for Leon, and his son, Jason. He and Linda, his wife had gone to credit counseling. Leon eventually had to refinance his home. He had done some investigation of equity loans and equity lines of credit. He had paid off his two mortgages a year before the incident with the boys, so he had some place to get help. He had restructured his homeowner's insurance, and changed his life insurance policies to term life. It had taken a toll on the family, but they had survived it as a family! Archie was glad as he recalled the recent outing the two families enjoyed to the beach. Like old times!
There were very few topics Leon and Archie had not debated and dissected over the time they had been neighbors. Leon had been one of the first to acquire a satellite dish for his television, one of those big contraptions that moved when the programming was keyed into the remote control. Archie kidded him mercilessly. When Archie had enrolled in one of those cell phone plans that tied him to a company for three years, it was Leon's turn to poke fun!
The two neighbors and friends pondered over the wisdom of seeking their medications through a Canadian Pharmacy, over whether they should seek Lasik surgery on their eyes, or teeth whitening, and even a facelift, to make them look younger!
Only a few years ago, Leon had gotten the idea that he and Archie should get into the modern era of communication and technology. He wanted for them to enroll in continuing adult education classes at the local community college. Archie resisted, saying he would just as soon start shopping for Lenox China!
But mostly his resistance was due to fear that he would be unable to learn! And Leon had eventually convinced Archie. They tried one class on computers for beginners. Both Archie and Leon were pleased that indeed they could learn, and were fascinated by things that were now available to them through the world of technology. They absorbed the. They were especially taken with the idea of video conferencing, since they both had children living hours away.
Both Archie and Leon had been leery of online banking and online marketing before their studies at the college. But both quickly found the benefits for their own lives and got signed up and involved in both types of activities. Archie bought a new laptop computer and got interested in online trading. He found an internet broker he liked and was constantly monitoring the business realm to see the progress of his investing. He even looked into university degrees online. Thanks a lot for getting me hooked, Leon!
But Leon was worse! He wanted his wife to start a business on their home computer, so she could work at home. He came up with a domain name he. He found a company that provided cheap hosting of websites. He had worked out a line of business credit and one of consumer credit at the local bank. The business had taken hold and kept Linda busy and produced a steady income.
That was really a blessing, now that Leon was gone. Leon had left an annuity & a few municipal bonds so that Linda would not have to deal with all that. Their insurance had taken good care of the medical bills. But the income from the online consulting would leave her future stable.
Leon had insisted that he and Linda seek legal advice regarding his illness. And he did not want to settle for a local no name personal injury attorney that he could pick from their yellow page advertising. The firm they chose had had some success with cases of wrongful death in mesothelioma cases. It appeared there would be a settlement in the case.
Archie has so many great memories of Leon. So many great times they had together before the treatments had made him so sick. It was difficult seeing Leon lose his hair and waste away over the months. Now he was gone physically, though Archie knew Leon would always be alive in his memories! Rest in peace, Leon!
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