Are You Prepared?

Jun 2

Do you remember the Boy Scouts motto? It’s “Be Prepared.” There, I made it easy for you. I had to look it up to make sure. Except—it’s not The Boy Scouts of America anymore. It’s Scouting America. Girls are allowed to join now. That’s a rabbit hole for another day. But good for them.

I started thinking about being prepared after my son-in-law called to ask if I could watch my grandson for a few days. The poor little guy has walking pneumonia and needs to stay out of daycare until the doctor clears him. Of course, being the good BeBe I am, I said, “Sure! Absolutely!” without even checking my schedule. Was I prepared to drop everything to be with the most important person in my life? Yes—because I had prepared for moments like this.

When I made my plus, minus, and interesting list for retirement (thank you, Calvin Taylor and Talents Unlimited), one of my big pluses was having the flexibility to care for my grandson at a moment’s notice. My daughter and son-in-law wouldn’t need to miss work, and I’d get extra time with him. Win-win.

But it made me reflect—what other areas of my life have I been prepared for? Or not?

When we were raising our kids, money was tight. My husband and I both worked full-time just to keep the lights on. We were constantly afraid of something going wrong. If a car broke down? We were sh*t out of luck. We’d have to ask our parents for help. Thankfully, we had good health insurance, so that wasn’t a major worry. But what if my husband lost his job? That would have sunk us. I had job security as a teacher, but let’s face it—teacher pay has never been great.

And what if one of us passed away?

That happened.

How prepared was I for that?

After we got past the daycare-diapers-formula stage, we could finally breathe—for about a year. Then came something we never saw coming: Alzheimer’s. Both of my husband’s parents started showing early signs. He had to get power of attorney and step in to manage their lives. We were in our 30s, still building our own future, but suddenly we were back in full-on caregiver mode.

I’ll never forget standing in my classroom, looking out the window, thinking how unfair it was. Just when we had a little room to plan ahead for ourselves, we were plunged into long-term care decisions, asset liquidation, VA paperwork, Medicare and Medicaid planning, and all the chaos that comes with it. It was like going back to the daycare years—except this time it was wheelchairs, not strollers.

That chapter lasted five years. When it finally ended, we had another breather. That’s when I found Dave Ramsey’s baby steps toward financial freedom. They made sense, and my husband and I dove in:

Save $1,000 for emergencies
Snowball the debts
Save 3–6 months of expenses
Invest 15% of income into retirement
Set up college funds
Pay off the house
Build wealth and give

We were almost there.

Then—my husband died.

But financially? I was prepared. We had savings. No debt. The house was paid off. I was still working and didn’t need to depend on anyone. My kids were grown and doing well.

Emotionally? I wasn’t prepared. No one ever really is.

But we’d raised our kids to be kind, supportive, and generous—and they showed up. Even in their own grief, they carried me.

Today, I’m probably the most prepared I’ve ever been. Financially, emotionally, spiritually. But I know better than to get comfortable. Life is full of curveballs. Being prepared means staying proactive. It means finishing what I start. It means doing the little things today that prevent chaos tomorrow.

So, I’ll end this post and go do my daily housekeeping tasks. Because tomorrow, I want to be ready to give all my love and energy to my favorite little guy.