Today my post isn’t really one of sharing an important tip regarding sales tax, bookkeeping, or payroll. But every once in a while I hear that people like to see some posts that show more of my personality. It appears you like to know more about me on a personal level as well, so today I’m sharing a story about lunch with one of my customers.
Mrs. P. was referred to me about 4 or 5 years ago from a business associate who owns an in-home care company. They were offering 24/7 care for Mr. P and in conversation with Mrs. P discovered that she was having a harder time seeing and had difficulty paying the bills and reconciling the bank statements. They asked that I call and introduce myself and my services to her and see if she’d like to offload this task. I scheduled a time to meet them and answered their questions and was hired to help with those tasks. A few years ago Mr. P passed away and she is now living alone and has no immediate family (both of her children passed away before her and there were no grandchildren).
Since we had become closer over the years of working together, I asked her one day if I could take her out for a special treat. She agreed and we enjoyed some frozen yogurt (which she loved as much as me). I’ve tried to take her somewhere every few months and we usually spend 4 or 5 hours together talking about our life experiences. We’ve been making these trips for a few years now. A few days ago I took Mrs. P to lunch to celebrate her birthday. I asked if she liked BBQ and she said yes, so I told her we’d visit another of my client’s restaurants. She was excited to try somewhere new as she said a friend of hers and she go to lunch each Wednesday and they needed to find a few new places.
I picked her up for lunch and she was as giddy as a school girl. She couldn’t wait to try something new! She liked the decor and the food was amazing. She said she couldn’t eat another bite. After lunch I brought her to my house where we talked some more. Deciding it was time to head home she said we’d better get going. After taking her home, we ended up talking at least another half hour.
I enjoy the fact that I provide a needed service to her, keep her bills paid timely and reconcile her accounts so she always knows how much money is in the bank. But I also am glad I can bring some sunshine into her life on a day that is dedicated to just having fun.
Candy
