18

The Decision

Friday was a typical weekday at the Frenches’ and brought with it the expected daily activities. Jerry decided to have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast to help him prepare for a busy day at the office. He was about ready to finalize the negotiations for the major acquisitions his firm was considering. In addition, the matter of what to do about his last dream weighed heavily on his mind. He wanted some closure, at least, as to how he would protect his family and let his close friends know of this possibility.

After Jerry finished his breakfast, he said to Jackie, “We need to decide what to do about the dream and how to discuss it with others. Let’s set aside some time this weekend to see if you and I can come up with an answer that makes sense to us.”

“I agree. This is constantly overshadowing everything for me,” Jackie responded.

“You have a good day at school,” Jerry told Jackie and the kids. “I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed them, got into his car, and drove to the station. Jackie finished the dishes and got the kids ready to leave for school.

Friday was an uneventful day compared with the last several weeks, and soon Jackie and the kids were home for the weekend and Jerry was coming in the back door from New York. They decided to go out for dinner and ended up at Friendly’s. The kids loved this since they could eat ice cream anytime. It didn’t matter that the weather was cold enough to store the ice cream outside. After they returned home, the kids wanted to see a new video, and Jerry and Jackie began dealing with their dreams. Although they talked until the kids went to bed, they were no closer to an answer than before they started.

Lisa and David were going to a sleepover party Saturday, and they were full of it starting early in the morning. Jackie had a short list of things for them to do, and they quickly completed their chores. After lunch, Jerry drove them to their friend’s house for the party.

Jackie and Jerry got started as soon as he got home from dropping the kids off. They considered a number of options, from just treating it like it wouldn’t take place to alerting a large number of their friends. By early evening, they still hadn’t settled on a solution. Then an expression came over Jerry’s face that said to Jackie that he had an idea. He had, in fact, come to a decision, but he wanted to make sure she agreed with it.

Jackie said, “It looks as if you’ve come up with something.”

Jerry proceeded to lay out his plan. First, he didn’t want to get into Jackie’s dream due to its personal nature. After all, her dream didn’t have any significance on the market crash issue except to help convince them this dream thing was more than a fluke.

Jerry proposed to prepare two sets of envelopes that they would use to inform Dave and their close friends Mary and John about the dreams. The first envelope would explain the first two of Jerry’s dreams and how they had started to come true. It would include the upshot of the Optiscan investment at the end of March. In that way, when March dawned, the predictions in the first envelope would help prepare the way for the revelation about the market crash, which would be outlined in detail in the second envelope.

The instructions would be to open the first envelope before the end of March. The second envelope should be opened after the results of the Optiscan investment were known. As far as the issue with their parents, Jerry was already managing their retirement accounts. He suggested that, rather than get them upset about the world crisis, he would just move their assets into areas that wouldn’t be impacted by the market crash.

Jackie listened with amazement to what her husband was saying. She realized that he had compassion and a degree of wisdom that surpassed anyone else she knew. When he finished, Jackie said to him, “I think your plan is excellent. I knew you’d be able to deal with this unusual situation. I’m proud of you, dear.”

Jerry was glad that Jackie agreed so strongly with his plan. They spent the remainder of the evening writing the two letters that they would give to their friends. When they had completed the actual letters, they briefly talked about the ways they might protect themselves. The good thing was they had more than a year to prepare for this crash. In addition, there was a strong possibility that if their friends believed this was to happen, they would be able to work as a team to develop the exact way to both defend against loss and turn this crash into the final step in their own financial destiny. Little did Jackie know when she made the reservation that she had ushered in one of the most significant events of their life! Who would have guessed a simple weekend at the inn might be the porthole to the future!