Two people reflect on the importance of life insurance 

You’ll never truly understand. At least not until you’ve experienced it yourself. And Darla Fliflet and Rob Hammond hope you’ll never have to.

But if you do, they hope you have life insurance to fall back on – just like they did.

Here, in their own words, they share what it’s like to lose someone they love … and what they’ve learned about life insurance in the process.

A wife’s story
Darla Fliflet, Cooperstown, N.D.

When Scott and I married, we asked ourselves, why on earth would we need life insurance? We’re still young.

As John Saul, our Modern Woodmen representative, sat with us at our kitchen table, he spoke about the importance of life insurance and being sure the one left behind to care for the kids would be adequately provided for. Scott and I agreed and decided to take out a certificate. However, we were only doing this because you never know. We always felt we would grow old together.

When life changed

“It hurts to swallow this meat,” Scott told me one day at lunch. As the days progressed, everything he attempted to eat caused pain when he swallowed. After many scans, blood work and an endoscopy test, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which had already metastasized to his liver.

Scott began chemotherapy immediately. He was so optimistic, his spirits were high, and our future began to look hopeful once again.

A few weeks went by and Scott felt ill once again. It was Monday when we arrived at the cancer center. On Wednesday, May 2, 2007, the doctor walked into his hospital room and told us Scott had around one month to live.

If you’ve ever ridden on a roller coaster and felt the sensation of your heart dropping to the ground, that’s what my heart felt like at that moment. It didn’t seem real at first.

Scott died on Memorial Day, May 28. I know he went to heaven feeling our family would be OK and could carry on. I know he felt peace knowing we would be taken care of financially – that the life insurance would help pay our bills, help our kids in college and be there for many things the future would bring. Scott was able to pass away with his eyes focused on heaven.

Moving on

Life insurance has been a godsend for our family. We’ve paid off many bills and taken care of many needed things. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without it. The burden of financial worries has been lifted from my shoulders.

A husband’s story
Rob Hammond, Newbern, Tenn.

I had life insurance even before I was married. Looking back, I don’t think I fully understood how important it was.

When Robin and I were married in 1986, we purchased additional life insurance. As young people, we found ourselves in a financial bind from time to time. We borrowed some of the cash value out of the insurance, but we continued to pay it. We knew it was important. Later on, Robin was offered some increases through her life insurance at work, and we did that too.

When life changed

In 1998, Robin was diagnosed with breast cancer. It made her uninsurable, but we didn’t think about that at the time. We thought she was going to be OK. She was going to get through this. This was just another obstacle to overcome.

She went through radiation, chemotherapy, lots of tests and lots of medical bills.

She was in remission for four and a half years when the cancer returned. She passed away in 2004.

Moving on

I didn’t realize how much I would have to worry about with two boys who were teenagers at the time. The finances though, that’s one thing I didn’t have to worry about. The life insurance allowed us to pay off what we owed on the mortgage and some other things that made life easier.

I had learned that. I was told about the value of life insurance, but I didn’t truly grasp the concept until then. What would we have done if we hadn’t had life insurance? The boys’ college education … would we have had to sell the house? I don’t know.

With the life insurance, we were able to pay off everything we owed. We could put that on the back burner and not worry about finances for awhile. During that really difficult time, that was just unbelievable.

I understand firsthand how important life insurance is … especially for young people who think they have the world by the tail. They’ve got everything planned. Until you have your financial future planned, you don’t have everything planned. You can have your career path picked out and be rocking along just fine. Then life can hit you on a Tuesday afternoon with something you never would have expected, and your whole life can change forever.

That’s what happened to us.