Many years ago I worked on a subdivision of a farm and in the midst of it the man died, without a will, and left a wife and family to sort things out and carry on with life.
FF to 2012 and I am again called to a complete some work of a client that died recently.
This one was a bit more personal as I'd done several jobs for them over the last few years and given advice and generally tried to help them work for their betterment in their business.
It was a deeply moving event when I sat down with his wife to discuss the way forward and to watch and to listen.
And another job with a divorced lady, no one to discuss (at home ie) the concepts of a subdivision she is wanting to do and the several agencies she has to deal with and the conflicting advice she is receiving.
She turns to someone she hopes she can trust in to steer her in the best direction for her future.
It made me think of how vulnerable those left behind and particularly women to all sorts of issues that we take for granted and are just part of life together as man and woman.
And how vulnerable they are to 'sharks' who take advantage of situations and preying on peoples ignorance. That makes me MAD!
It also made me think of my situation and how my wife would cope if she had to do mundane chores I take for granted. Fix the leaking tap, make the pump pump water when it stops, clean the flue and so on.
This is an aspect of surveying that you can chose to walk away from or ignore but unless we pass up the job then we are involved in shaping others future just by our very presence and the work we undertake and the advice we hand on.
For me, I don't enjoy having to work in such a situation, but I do know I can make a difference to that persons life and knowing that makes it worthwhile.
I'm still thinking on these issues and am working with the bereaving lady to further her next move in life and merely post this for others that may never have been challenged in this way to reflect on life and what sort of a mess they (I) would leave if we left unexpectantly.
Also how we can shape and help those in vulnerable situations as mentioned and I know it is appreciated.
I am sure that most of us run into these situations, I know I do. It is how we respond to them that reflects on our humanity.
Joe
Like you, I've been brought into very similar situations quite a few times. It can be heartwrenching. The vultures and circling. How do you protect the client from them while not really being more than a perceived potential vulture yourself? Too many times those vultures turn out to be the client's immediate family. All hoping to get their piece of the pie now instead of 'someday'.
About 20 years ago a lady's husband died late one evening. At 7:30 the next morning she heard a lawn mower running outside her farmhouse. It was the owner of the livestock auction barn nearest that farm. She was highly impressed that such a wealthy man would do something like this himself and not hire someone to do such a nice thing for her. Guess who talked her into selling all of her cattle immediately through his auction barn, rent the farm to him for about half what she would have received had she invited neighbors to bid, and eventually bought the farm for a low price when she decided to move off the farm. It took little effort on his part to convince her that he was her best friend in the world when it came to farm business decisions.
I happen to be married to a lady who can, if called upon, change an alternator, re-plumb a sink, take a vehicle to the mechanic and tell the mechanic what to fix, build a new set of wall shelves, tile a kitchen counter, refinish a ceiling, on ad infinitum.
Should I leave her alone by some infortuitous accident or illness, she is quite capable of making such decisions as necessary.
For the first 10 years we were married, over 1/2 of her "Christmas List" consisted of power tools and she specified which ones she wanted.:-)
Nope. Not gonna do it. Ain't gonna ask why she needed power "tools" when she had you around to handle the heavy work.
Wrong direction. The possibility of someone reading the other possibility never even crossed my mind when I posted. Shame on you.
Power tools consisted of Circular Saw, Scroll Saw, Sanders, Router, Table Saw, Miter Saw, etc., plus numerous smaller tools.
