I love my insurance company (USAA, for the record)
Not just because the rates are terrific and the service is top-notch. I also love them because they send me a Christmas gift every year.
Okay, well�..it�s not technically a gift.
The first and most memorable year they did this was 1997. My son was born on December 16th of that year and came home from the hospital on December 18th. On the 20th, he was hospitalized again with a 104 degree fever.
He was in the hospital until New Years� Eve, and I was with him almost 24/7. The doctors didn�t know what was wrong with him, just that his body was producing WAY too many white blood cells�.or maybe not producing enough, the details are kinda fuzzy now. I found out later that there was a lot that my mother wouldn�t let them tell me, such as the fact they suspected he might have Leukemia (he didn�t, thank goodness)
Dave and I alternated nights at the hospital. Lissa would go to daycare until 6pm, then my mother would pick her up until Dave got off work. Dave would bring Lissa to the hospital and I would take her home. The next morning, I would drop Lissa off at daycare and relieve Dave so he could work. I would spend that day, that night, and the entire next day at the hospital with Ben.
I was going nutty with stress and exhaustion, trying to be there for Ben and still spend time with Lissa. This was Christmastime after all, and I didn�t want to neglect her. Dave HAD to work. He was working in retail for Circuit City at the time in a commission based job, and we just couldn�t afford for him not to work. It was bad enough I wasn�t being paid while I was out on maternity leave, plus our expenses were higher with Lissa�s daycare. I was going to keep her home with me while I was on leave so we could save some money.
And I hoped and prayed with all my heart Ben would be able to come home before Christmas. And of course, I was supposed to be recuperating from having given birth to Ben. My mom was worried like hell about me and sent me home one afternoon to rest while she stayed with Ben. But, me being me, I couldn�t rest and ending up walking the Mall, doing some last minute Christmas shopping (I also bled like hell afterwards�oops)
So on top of worrying about Ben and being exhausted I was stressed over the financial situation. I talked to Dave on the phone one night and he told me not to worry about it. I thought he was just doing the whole, �shush, there, there� routine, but no, he told me USAA had sent us a check for SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! This was our yearly dividend. Seems claims for that year were less than forecasted, so they returned the excess to its members.
Yay for USAA!!
That was the largest check they ever sent us, but they did send us a check every year�..usually for between one to two hundred dollars, once for about $300.
The best thing about it is I always forget so it�s always a nice surprise when it comes.
Anyway, I didn�t get one last year because I hadn�t been a USAA customer for a full year. (Well, that�s not strictly true�.but I changed policies mid year from the joint policy Dave and I had to a single policy just for me). But yesterday, I got home and found an envelope from USAA and I remembered and I was all super giddy and ripped it open�.it was only $32, but still�.$32 is more than twice what I had in the bank yesterday.
On a totally unrelated note: Does anyone besides me think Cal Ripkin has the eyes of a serial killer?
(this comes up because Chel ran into Cal this morning at a school function�.their children both attend the same private school)
