Twenty-three years of helping people plan for long-term care has taught me that no two stories are alike. Each family brings their own hopes, fears, and complications. But it’s the deeply personal moments that happen after the policies are signed and the plans are in place that remind me why this work matters.
Recently, those moments have felt particularly close to home.
This summer I moved my own family member to an Assisted Living facility as Alzheimer’s slowly steals away the person we’ve always known. Even with a solid long-term care insurance plan in place, it can still be incredibly difficult to watch a loved one gradually lose their independence. I find myself thinking about the families who face this without any safety net at all.
Then there’s the call I received last month. I’d been working with a client’s wife to ensure that his long-term care benefits covered everything he needed. The policy was performing beautifully—exactly as we’d hoped when we first sat down years ago to discuss his concerns about becoming a burden. But then their daughter called with news that changed everything: her mother, my client’s devoted caregiver and advocate, had suddenly passed away. Now I’m working with a grieving daughter, helping her navigate not just the loss of her mother, but the continuation of her father’s care.
Sometimes the most routine visits reveal the most heartbreaking realities. I accompanied an insurance nurse to visit one of my clients, a woman whose only adult child lives across the country. What we found was a home filled with years of accumulated belongings and a mind that could no longer distinguish between treasure and trash. Her Assisted Living claim was approved quickly, but I left wondering how long she’d been struggling alone before anyone noticed.
Perhaps the most difficult call came from a client I’ll never forget—one of the most brilliant and engaging people I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. A few years after we’d set up his policy, his wife called to schedule an appointment. When we spoke, she did all the talking. ALS had taken his voice, but thankfully not his foresight. The home care benefits we’d planned for were now his lifeline.
These stories add weight to my understanding of why this work extends far beyond insurance policies and premium payments. The policy is just the beginning; it’s the foundation that allows families to focus on what truly matters when crisis hits.
When the rubber meets the road—when illness shifts the course of a family’s everyday life—I don’t just see myself as an insurance professional, but as someone who understands that behind every claim is a family doing their best to navigate a difficult time. That’s where I hope to make a difference: in those challenging moments when having a plan isn’t just about financial support, but about helping families stay grounded and focused on what matters most.