Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sobering Thought

A coworker's young son died unexpectedly last week. They had no money set aside for his funeral, and don't have a lot of money to begin with. We all chipped in to put money in a card for him; I contributed $20.

Two things struck me about this:

1. I can't imagine the grief of losing a child, coupled with the stress of not knowing how to pay for his burial. It's an unthinkable thing. My heart goes out to them.

2. When you're on a cash only diet, pulling a crisp $20 out of your wallet to contribute hurts. I can afford it, but I thought about my contribution much more because it was cash in hand. Funny how that happens.

Bottom line:  Given the chance to do it over, I would still chip in the $20. If it makes the burden their family faces even a tiny bit less, it's worth it to me. But it was also a great life lesson.

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