After my father died in Dec. of 1982 mother lived another 20 years. She passed away in June of 2002. Mom never drove. She never got her driver’s license so she always had to depend on others to go somewhere. Mom had several male friends after dad died. They often went out to eat or go to the local Senior citizen’s center in Webb City, MO, to eat and play cards.
One of her male friends was a guy named Ralph Lee. Ralph was older than mother and died a year or so before mom. He was in his 90’s. Ralph worked hard all his life to make money. He often worked seven days a week. He was a part of owner of some business in Webb City and also built houses. I think he bought houses, renovated them and then sold them to make money.
One time many years ago when I was visiting mom, he saw me out doing my daily run. I would go for a fun even while visiting mom when I was still running.
Ralph stopped his car one day, rolled down his window and said, “If I had your energy I could make some money.” Well, he did make a lot of money in his lifetime. He was worth over a million dollars. And he always interested in making more money.
One sad thing was this: I don’t think he ever recognized where his money came from I think he believed too highly in himself, thinking that nobody ever gave him anything and that he worked hard for everything he had.