Kelly Sullivan

photo by Bryan Harrison, Harrison Promotional Services

2006 was a long year for me. Launching a new business entailed a lot more than I ever imagined. I never worked so much or tried so hard, that I can remember, and there were days when I couldn’t envision anyone on earth dealing with more than myself. What little I knew!

Through simple every day events, I seem to learn the most and, out on the road, my lessons are never ending. This begins the first of many:

In the midst of the winter storms, a new client sent over a loss, in FRESNO! Anxious to please, I accepted it, grumbling under my breath throughout the entire three-hour drive to my destination. I had so much work to do and I was wasting precious time stuck in my car. Reports were due and deadlines fast approaching. I applied a little more pressure on the gas pedal as I thought, “Please let me get there fast and get things over with.”

I can barely remember anything about the assignment; what I do remember so vividly is the conversation I had with the insured; a middle aged woman with a relaxed smile and a warm and friendly demeanor. She welcomed me into her home and let me play with her dog for a few minutes. She offered me a soda and took the time to ask about my drive. She was baking cookies in the kitchen when I arrived and I remember thinking that she seemed so content.

There were lots of family photos on the walls of the living room, but one in particular stood out; it was an 11x14 of a beautiful young woman in a wedding dress. Impressed, I asked if the woman was her daughter. The insured nodded in reply, smiling sadly, her eyes instantly welling up with tears. Her daughter, she explained, was killed in a head-on collision two years ago, just five months after she was married. She was driving from the Bay Area where she had just bought a house with her husband, on her way to see her parents for the weekend. Her new groom was in tow behind her by about two hours in a separate vehicle because he had to work late.

The accident occurred when another vehicle was speeding and lost control, crossing over the center divider and veering directly in front of the insured’s daughter’s car. The insured’s daughter died at the scene, and her husband came upon the crash just as the damaged vehicles were being towed away. He recognized his wife’s car and made the grim discovery of her fate this way.

After telling me the story, the insured took me over to another area of the living room and showed me a different photo of a bride and a groom. The groom looked familiar; the insured beamed when she told me it was her late daughter’s husband and his new wife. He had remarried last month. I asked the insured if it was hard for her to see him with someone else, and she graciously replied that her daughter would have wanted him to be happy and still live his life to the fullest. With a wistful smile, she added that she even went to the wedding. She said, “I learned the hard way that life is short and can end any time. I used to worry about everything, including my children’s safety, but it didn’t change a thing. Now, I just want to enjoy every minute I’ve got, and so should you.”

I had to get back on the road; another claim waiting. I gave the insured a hug as I left and she told me to drive safely. Her words echoed in my head as I headed up the freeway, easing off of the gas just a little bit, despite the fact that I was running late, grateful to be alive, even to experience stress and remembering everything else this life has to offer.

Have you learned a lesson you’d like to share? If so, please forward your story to publisher, Bryan Harrison, at: harrisonpromo@yahoo.com, and we will keep this column in our monthly newsletter.