One afternoon last July, my then 12-year-old son, Zachary, suddenly went rigid out of a deep sleep on our living room sofa, opened and rolled his eyes, and turned purplish-blue, unable to breathe. He was having a seizure. I was not home; I learned all of this in a telephone call from my then 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, who was explaining to me courageously through tears that my wife was speaking with 911 on the other phone and paramedics were on their way.
We know now that Zachary is epileptic. We may be among the fortunate ones, however, since the cause of Zachary's epilepsy seems to have been properly diagnosed at this point, though we cannot be absolutely certain. His seizures have been controlled successfully by medication for the last several months. What's more, Zachary has recovered many of the natural abilities that his epilepsy had been seeking to steal from him permanently during the eight months or so he suffered unpredictable seizures and terrors of the mind that, thankfully, he cannot recall. We were told this is not common. We continue to pray that Zachary will be all right. We know that if it were up to Zachary, he would be, because he'd do whatever was necessary to recover.
You see, when Zachary was a baby, he exhibited a pugnacious, perseverant spirit that drove him to move and make his way, no matter the obstacles, long before he could walk. His clear determination in this regard fascinated me and I confess that, on occasion, as I played with him on our living room floor, I would put a small barrier of pillows or stuffed animals in his path, just to see what he would do. I was anxious to understand what my stubborn young son was made of. Zachary almost always crawled right over the barrier, no matter what effort it required, and continued on his way without complaint and without looking back--rarely, if ever, did he go around the obstacle or attempt to push it out of the way. He simply considered overcoming it part of his travel from one point to another and did not give it another thought.
It was almost as if Zachary knew intuitively from the beginning where it all would lead--to the mobility and freedom of movement he longed to exercise in order to get where he wanted to go, when he wanted to go there. For him, not only crawling, but also those first baby steps were OK, and just part of reaching his ultimate goal. I admired that spirit in Zachary then, just as I do now. In fact, I am convinced that the determination he showed in learning to walk and run is the same determination that has enabled him to persevere and overcome his epilepsy today.
As I have said, it appears that Zachary may be one of those children blessed to have survived the onslaught of epilepsy, and relatively unharmed, and we are grateful for this miracle. While there are many life lessons that can be learned from our experience, I want to focus here on one rarely discussed, yet vitally important—juvenile life insurance. You see, Zachary is now uninsurable. While I knew such a thing was possible, like most parents, I never for a moment dreamed it would occur to my son, who had been happy and healthy, so far as we knew, for his first twelve years of life. Zachary's epilepsy was a wake-up call in many respects, but, as it pertains to juvenile life insurance, it was also a clarion call to me to spread the word that juvenile life is critical and should be written as soon as possible to protect the lives and insurability of children.
Too often, we tend to think of life insurance only as it relates to death, and that is a terrible mistake. For children who do not die but suddenly suffer from injuries, maladies or other conditions that render them temporarily or permanently uninsurable, juvenile life insurance provides them and their parents with peace of mind and vital security—if written before such afflictions strike. The peace of mind comes from knowing that, even though the child is not insurable presently, protection is already in place. Moreover, should that child live to adulthood, juvenile life insurance that includes guaranteed purchase options assures the parents that their child will have a meaningful amount of coverage for several more years—vital security. In fact, the face amount of a juvenile policy that includes such guarantees, as most do today, can be increased in increments sufficient to protect that child’s future by providing enough funding for his own spouse or children to pay for final expenses and associated minor medical costs well into adulthood. Further, depending upon the original face amount of the policy and how it is funded, that same policy could provide such protection for a lifetime—not to mention serving as a potential source of dollars to help pay for education or to provide an emergency fund for life’s unanticipated financial needs, and more. All of that from a very inexpensive life insurance policy bought at birth, or early in childhood, for someone who otherwise would never be able to obtain such protection or resources in life, due to what happened to him in his early years.
Amazing, isn’t it? For children blessed with health and well-being today, putting juvenile life coverage in place is critical for protecting their insurability and enhancing their well-being tomorrow, if they should become ineligible for life insurance at some point, as Zachary did, due to an impairment or health problem. And again, guaranteed purchase options are key to making certain that healthy children will be able to obtain future coverage should they become uninsurable.
In the unthinkable alternative situation, however, juvenile life insurance also provides peace of mind and vital security. If you have lived long enough, you may have seen cases of children who have died and the devastation it causes to their parents and siblings. Life insurance is not the answer for healing such deep wounds, of course. However, the peace of mind it can provide when it comes to covering final expenses and/or associated medical costs for a family that did not plan for these needs -- and that is in the midst of suffering a loss the rest of us do not dare to contemplate -- is beyond description. This is particularly clear when you compare it to the possibility of a mother and father receiving monthly bills from the funeral home for months or years after their child's death, not merely causing ongoing financial stress, but also serving as bitter reminders of their inestimable, irreplaceable loss. Further, juvenile life can allow a parent to take some time off of work to mourn a child's passing, or to help his or her other children through their own grieving processes at a crucial time--benefits that cannot be overstated. If funds should remain, there is even the prospect, depending upon the face amount chosen and the desires of the family, to use life insurance proceeds to establish a lasting memorial to the child, or even to establish a memorial fund for some purpose in the child's name, such as to aid other children stricken with a similar disease, or to help other families that lose a child due to similar causes. For all of these reasons, we should never forget that also in the case of death itself, the value of adequate juvenile life insurance goes far beyond the face amount of the policy.
Lastly, we should remember that, if properly designed, cash-value juvenile life can accomplish even more -- especially for children that remain in good health into their college years and beyond-- though it has become more difficult due to MEC laws and other regulation of life insurance contracts since the 1970s. Cash can be accumulated within an extremely safe, interest-earning, tax- deferred vehicle from which the child can withdraw education or emergency and other funds later in life, with and without various tax consequences. (Obviously, there are options for accumulating funds in other financial vehicles also, though without the same guarantees or potential tax benefits). Not to mention that for the child who remains healthy into adulthood and does not withdraw any cash value from a permanent plan, the opportunity to retain, continue and expand the policy to meet the growing and ever-changing needs of life is a lasting gift.
Fortunately, my son Zachary has had life insurance from the day he was born, though now I wish we had purchased more, for his sake. It is my hope, however, that sharing our story and these reminders will encourage you to make sure you insure your own children immediately, whatever their age. If you have already done so, you are already enjoying the peace of mind and vital security that juvenile life insurance offers. If that is the case, then my hope is that our story will inspire you to share the benefits of juvenile life insurance with everyone you know that has children, and to do your level best to urge him or her to get those children insured as soon as possible, so that they and their children can enjoy that same peace of mind and sense of security.
