Nicholas P.

December 11th, 2009 was the worst day of my life no exception, because, on that day, I lost my best friend, my mentor, and most importantly my mother.

Losing a parent at any age is tough. However, losing a parent at 12 years old was earth-shattering. She was a single parent and was very ill. As much as losing my mother shook me to my core it did not come as a surprise. She had always been sick, always in and out of hospitals, doctor’s meetings and house call nurses were not uncommon. Growing up on disability cheques was not always luxurious, considering she was only getting about $1,200 every month. Money was tight but she somehow despite all odds made it work.

I was fortunate enough to move in with my aunt and uncle who had three kids and one on the way. My uncle was a curb layer, and my aunt was a stay at home mom. A few days before my mother passing, my uncle got hurt at work and would require back surgery, his days as a curb layer were over. He would later graduate college has a Civil Engineer after commuting from North Bay to Sudbury for two years. I owe a lot to my aunt and uncle for the care they provided me for six years until I eventually moved to Barrie to start schooling in 2015.

In both periods of my life, being before and after my mom passing money has always been tight, this is something that I have always lived with. My mother had no life insurance and my aunt and uncle were in the middle of starting their own family, there was no extra money for me.

When I turned 15, I did what I could. I worked a part-time job on weekends during the school year and as much as I could in the summer. However, my uncle was not making much money off the WSIB cheques while he went back to school, so I became another source of income, it was not always required, but it did not leave me with much money in my pocket.

The importance of life insurance cannot be understated if my mother had life insurance, the worry of not being able to afford post- secondary education would not be as relevant as it is today. The stress of feeding, clothing and providing a home for another child may not have been so hard on my aunt and uncle, and finally, I may have been able to heal faster than I did by simply not worrying about how I may be affecting my new family’s financial costs.

My mother not having life insurance has taught me a valuable lesson. The lesson is that we cannot control when our final hour may come, but we can control the effect that we have on those who we leave behind.