Dear Friends, 

Happy 4th of July!  Darrell and I have decided to send you an Independence Day letter this year.

First off, let us express our gratitude to you for allowing us to continue to be of service during the highly unusual times we have been living through over the last couple of months.  Undoubtedly, we all have been confronted with new issues (related to the Coronavirus epidemic) and old issues (brought on by the recent racial events) that have perhaps spurred on difficult but necessary conversations with friends and family.  

We have also been quite taken by the concern for us shown by our clients. Even now, we are constantly asked how we are doing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  This care for our well-being has been very touching and has meant a lot to the entire staff.  Thank you for that.

As we prepare to celebrate the freedoms we have this upcoming weekend, we thought we would share some words of advice that we have received along the way and have been meaningful in our lives. 

The first bit of wisdom, which came from an organizational consultant and given to Dave while he was newly married and still living and working in Seattle, was that the best and most effective organizations are those that create environments where the predominant culture is based on love rather than fear.  It is a simple truth but sometimes easy to forget especially during times when we believe the freedoms that we have known are being infringed upon or even destroyed.

More great advice came as we both have listened to family and worked with counselors at various times to help us in acknowledging and accepting personal differences (thank you, Kiersten & Connie for hanging in there with us as we learned to do this better =).   They would often encourage us to “plan for success” in our relationships, which meant that we needed to actively think of steps we could take both individually and collectively to make the relationship a success.  Again, another simple truth but hopefully a nice reminder that anything worth having or enjoying is not going to “just happen” automatically and will require some work.

Over the years, this advice has stuck with us and we still reference it when we encounter difficult personal situations, as well as the current health and social upheavals, we all have been confronted with.  We have also tried to have them carry over to our business lives and commit to continuing to do so.

To succeed and persevere through these times, please try to look for the positive side of things and have that glass half-full attitude. There have been many examples of kindness, helpfulness and creativity, and we have found this to be reassuring that we will successfully endure this time. 

We want you to focus on your families, your friends and your health.  We ask you to try not to focus on the fear, but rather, let’s take care of those around us and try to do good things.  Let us worry about your financial life, which is why we are here. When you are ready, we want you to call us to discuss and update your financial goals and plans.  We also want to reiterate that we are here for any of your family or friends who also could use our help. Please know this isn’t a sales pitch…it’s what we can do to help.

Please be safe as we all look forward to brighter days ahead. 

Blessings,

Dave & Darrell