​Weathering the Storm with the WP#69

This week has been especially challenging and a justification for travel insurance protection. I have had one client test positive and will finally be coming home on the 31st. I also had clients the other day, notify me that due to medical reasons, they will have to cancel, and their travel companions want too also. Finding out how this will play depends on the policy of the insurer and there are several players, as the clients wanted or needed different policies, so sorting through the process will be interesting. The other clients, who canceled their trip under the cancel for any reason option, finally received their monies two months after the fact. The claim, which is going to be done this week for the medical claim, is not first, but the second one of the travel season. If I extrapolate into the future, I suspect, while having sold many travel insurance policies to protect the interest of my clients, for the spring, summer, and fall seasons, there will be more. How many, I can’t tell you, but I already anticipate this. 

And while this is something I will encounter more and more, this week and this day, Memorial Day is much more important and while you all are enjoying your barbeques and picnics, going to beach, and hitting the road, let’s remember what this day is truly about. It is about the sacrifices made by our military in the defense of freedom and the sacrifice of their lives to preserve what we have for almost 250 years now in every war and police action in which we have been involved throughout or history and even more so now, with “wars” that are not hot wars, but the war we have waged to save people’s lives in the fight against Covid, the doctors and nurses who have succumbed to the perils of Covid, especially in the early months when we did not know much about. Or the firefighters and police officers who handle our domestic front lines against domestic terrorism including 911, where many succumbed to the effects of the asbestos and other materials in those building in the long term. They were also fighting a war and died a long slow death, but they deserve to be memorialized. ​

I am student of history in America and even though this country has many, many issues that have yet to be resolved in the near 250 years of our existence. If it weren’t for the ultimate sacrifices of these men and women in uniform, the need to form a more perfect union would not be necessary as it would have dissolved into chaos and anarchy. We are free in this country, but that does not mean you can yell fire in a theater, shoot up elementary schools, churches, synagogues, grocery stores. It does not mean you have the right to destroy another person's life because you have it so bad, or you perceive you have it so bad the world is against you. Would you rather be in Russia right now or in the Middle East or Afghanistan, where freedom and rights, the ability to challenge the status quo does not exist. If it weren’t for our military and police officers, firefighters, doctors, and nurses, who risked their lives and lost their lives in the line of duty, where would we be? 

In my travels, I have, and certainly suggest all Americans, in appreciation of what those who have lost their lives in defense of this country domestically and overseas, Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg, the American Cemetery in Coleville, France, the American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy (this just last year), the 911 Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, VA just in February with Rosa. And, while I had been there many years ago, it was something we had to experience together and it awed me even more so, than it had many years ago. I have visited many battlefields of the American Civil War over the years and the battlefields and cemeteries of those who fought in the American Revolution. 

Remember that those who do not remember their history, or perhaps, forget their history, tend to forget and sink their teeth in their hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob and all the fixin’s of a barbeque or picnic and the parades and fireworks, perhaps, but on this sacred day of Memorial Day, think about those who died, so you could act the way you do, good or bad and many did it and did not question their service. I think every American needs to make a pilgrimage to these places of honor and see the number of people responsible for your freedom. It should make you think long and hard about it and if you served and were wounded or served and experienced others who were killed or wounded in the line of duty, and the aftermath of such an experience, thank you so much for your service and you deserve a place of honor when you pass, which for the Greatest Generation, fewer and fewer remain, so thank them for their service every time you encounter someone, and even ask them if they would share their experiences, and learn something be it WWII, Korea War (which was and is a Police Action, not a declared war), Vietnam, Kuwait and Iraq, and Afghanistan because many feel closed in and want to share. I apologize if I missed any more recent conflicts, but simply remember the lives lost in defense of our country. 
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As always, I am interested in your thoughts, comments, questions and adding to the discourse is always appreciated be in on the site itself or on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you read this. Thank you for your support of this small business and it is truly appreciated!!!