Billy, Basketball and Burdens
I was looking at my stats today and noticed that one IP address that hit this site was from Sunnyvale, California USA. I’m actually sort of from Sunnyvale. I spent about two years there while my dad worked in Mountain View, California. I have fond memories of Sunnyvale for the most part. One of the more negative memories is one from the playground where I used to play basketball with two friends. One of them was a kid named Billy. Billy had about 200 of those jelly bracelets that were cool at the time on his arms. I can’t fathom having to put those on and take them off for bathtime, bedtime or the likes, but Billy said he did that every time.
Billy, Jorge and I would play basketball together at every recess unless all of the courts were taken, and even then we would sometimes just practice dribbling and passing. In all honesty I am a horrible basketball player now, but back then I enjoyed it greatly. Billy was there every day at recess. The three of us would take turns shooting hoops as best as our second grade bodies could manage. At the end of the recess time we’d all pack back int our classroom and at the end of the day we’d say, “See you tomorrow!”
One Monday Billy never showed up. Jorge and I passed it off as him being sick and threw the basketball around together. But the next day he was still missing - so we thought he must really be sick. But after a week of being gone and then another we realized that Billy was gone for good. I have no clue what happened to Billy. Maybe his parents moved, maybe his parents got a divorce and just one of the moved, but whatever happened: he was gone. Jorge and I played together for a while but two wasn’t the same as three and eventually things fell away and I moved onto some other playground games, as did Jorge.
I tell you that story to tell you this: Set up an emergency fund because you never know what might happen to your job. You don’t know what could happen to your health, and you don’t know what could happen to a family member that was an income source. It would probably be prudent to review your will, your insurance policies and anything else that makes up your “after I’m gone” plans. Planning ahead could prevent any of these events from being critical, and instead make them unfortunate, but not a burden. There is little you can do about those things, but whatever you do, don’t just be a sitting duck. Though usually on the playground they don’t play duck, they play HORSE. Don’t be a sitting horse either.
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