Chapter 1

Tom Martin was a believer in the peak and valley theory. He thought that throughout one’s life there were an equal number of good times called peaks and the same number of bad times called valleys. The length or longevity of the peaks and valleys were equal to each other and balanced out. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was in one long valley and hoped it would end soon.

This valley for Tom started when he answered the door on his condo and saw a police officer standing there. He had the thought that something had happened to his car and later wish that’s what it only was.

“Mr. Martin?”

“Yes.”

“May I come in?”

“Yes, what is this about?”

“Sir there has been an automobile accident which involved your wife Kathy”

“Is she hurt?”

“Sir I am sorry to tell you that she is dead. It appears that she was killed instantly.”

“Oh my God” Tom said as he slumped down into a chair. How could this be he thought. This had to be a bad dream he was having.

The officer went on to explain how the accident happened and that Kathy’s body was at All Saints Hospital.

Tom said he wanted to see her and left to go to the hospital to view Kathy. There he saw that she looked like she was asleep and at rest. He cried as he said a few prayers and just continuously thought, “How could this be, how could this be?”

Composing himself he left the hospital and phoned their only son Brian who lived in Kansas City and broke the sad news to him. Brian was devastated by the news.

Brian asked how the accident happened and Tom relayed to him what the police officer told him. He said that Kathy was on the expressway when a car to her left apparently did not see Kathy’s car and changed lanes without signaling and struck Kathy’s car. The impact caused Kathy to lose control, swerve to her right and strike a bridge support head on. There were two drivers behind Kathy who were witnesses to what happened and stopped to see if they could help.

That night was just a blur with Tom thinking about Kathy and their thirty four years of marriage. To say it was the saddest time in his life was without a doubt a gross understatement.

The next day Tom made arrangements for the wake and funeral. Because of Kathy’s popularity it was expected that there would be a large turnout of mourners and there were. All of them expressed their condolences and spoke of Kathy’s passing as a great loss.

Tom was faced with disposing of Kathy’s clothes which he donated to some charities. He really didn’t want to do it but knew that he had to. He also had to adjust to now being a widower and knew he needed to get on with his life. He sadly remembered a discussion he once had with Kathy. They both agreed that if something happened to one of them that the other should move on and try to be happy. If that meant finding another companion then they should do it. They each loved the other so much that they wanted the other to be happy.

Tom had owned a large insurance agency which he had just sold in anticipation of retiring and doing some traveling with Kathy. She had just retired from teaching and said they should see the world as you never know what can happen. In anticipation of doing this traveling they had made a big step in selling their house and downsizing into a condo. Tom wasn’t overly enthused with doing a lot of traveling but if that’s what Kathy wanted, that’s what they were going to do.

Because of Tom’s work background he thought he wouldn’t need an attorney and he could settle the claim for her death directly with the insurance company. It was a major insurance company who insured the other driver involved in the accident. Just as Tom anticipated what would happen did happen. The claim adjustor made an offer of settlement that was just short of the liability policy limits arguing that Tom didn’t need to pay an attorney one third of the settlement so he was money ahead. This was an effort on the claim adjustor’s part in trying to save a few dollars and it pissed Tom off.

Tom said he was aware of how things operated in the claim business and he would only consider a settlement if the full policy limits were offered. Not offering the full policy limits would cause him to file suit alleging bad faith on the insurance company’s part. The claim adjustor said he would get back to him on that.

In talking to George Pilot who was a golfing buddy of Tom’s and someone Tom had known since elementary school, Tom discussed the negotiations he was having with the insurance company.

George said, “I have known you and Kathy a long time. Why don’t you let me file a law suit and maybe take a deposition from the other driver just to see what shakes out. This could inspire them to pay you the limits. I won’t take a third of the settlement as a fee, just what my costs are. Let me do this for Kathy.”

Tom gave George the go ahead and has it turned out it was fortunate that he did give him permission to file suit.

George after a few months had passed told him that in taking the deposition of the driver it revealed that the other driver worked for a large pharmaceutical company and at the time was going from one client to call on another client. George said the principal of agency applied and because of that the employer was also responsible for what had happened. The employer could be brought in to share in the settlement of the claim. This large corporation now involved created what was called a target insured. While the existence of insurance could not be mentioned in front of a jury, a large corporation transcended that and the existence of money being available to pay for the injury was something that a jury assumed. As luck would have it, it was the same insurance company who insured the pharmaceutical company who also insured the driver. The settlement of the claim now went into the seven figures. The insurance company in trying to save a few dollars wound up paying out considerably more.

The claim settlement coupled with the funds from the sale of his insurance agency, Kathy’s reduced pension, life insurance, Ira’s, personal investments and annuities, plus future social security payments, put Tom in an enviable financial position. The income generated from these funds invested would provide Tom with more than enough for a comfortable life style. It was too bad he thought that Kathy wasn’t there to share in it with him.

Among the many things Tom missed was the love making he did with Kathy. She was an excellent lover and while they didn’t make love every night, they do enough to where Tom was satisfied sexually. He wondered if he would ever be that way again.

Tom’s friends, both the married and the single ones started to mention to Tom about some of the single women they knew. They mentioned to Tom that he would be pursued by women after a suitable mourning time had passed. Tom told his friends that they were nuts but in a way he hoped it turned out to be true. The problem was that in Tom’s circle of friends, the single women he knew just did not attract him. They were nice people but he didn’t want to take any of them to bed. He probably was too particular because he wanted the woman to be good looking just as Kathy was and he wasn’t interested in any of them if they weren’t. That he knew was somewhat chauvinistic on his part but that’s just the way he was.

One example of this was Tina Andrews, a widow and a friend of Kathy’s. Tina was about the same sixty two years of age Tom was and did have a slim figure. Facially, the time she had spent in the sun had taken its toll on her skin in giving it many wrinkles. He wasn’t attracted to her physically but at her suggestion he had taken her out to dinner.

It turned out that taking her out to dinner was a big mistake. She started to suggest they start doing things together and Tom thought he should nip this right in the bud. She didn’t take it that well when he told her to cool it as he wasn’t looking to have a relationship with her. She apparently thought they were destined to be together and didn’t take it well by things she said when she realized that wouldn’t happen.

Besides taking on some additional household chores that he didn’t do before, he did have things to keep him busy. Golfing, managing his investments, reading, shopping and surfing the web, all combined did make the time go by. It was the quiet evenings that were bad because that’s when the loneliness affected him the most.

Tom had become involved in investing long ago at his father’s suggestion. He had become a self-taught investor who learned by picking other people’s brains and doing a lot of self-studying. Some of the extensive research published by academics to him was interesting and yet he thought they said what common sense told him. Some of the conclusions they reached, in particular the one that investors purchased stocks for the dividends they paid or anticipate they will pay just didn’t make complete sense to him. He thought the perceived growth and increased profitability of a company which would increase the price of the stock was a significant reason stocks are purchased. Economists he thought overlook this factor in the investor psyche as they pushed the dividend reason. Tom had to admit that some older investors purchased stocks because of the dividends they pay but most people he thought purchased stocks to see the share prices rise.

One evening in checking his email he saw that he had received an email saying that Wendy Solis’s mother had passed away and what the funeral arrangements were. He had known Wendy for a long time and felt an obligation to attend the wake which was Thursday with funeral being Friday.

Based on the cars he saw in the parking lot at the chapel it didn’t appear that there was a large turnout for the wake. Maybe there was a larger turnout earlier that day as it was already eight in the evening and the wake was slated to end at nine.