During the holidays several of my clients received their bankruptcy discharge. \u00a0The discharge is a court order which states that the Debtor is no longer legally obligated to repay most if not all of \u00a0his or her debts. \u00a0In most cases the only debts that are not discharged are student loans and taxes. \u00a0Sometimes even taxes can be discharged, but that’s a topic for another blog post.<\/p>\n
When that discharge comes out, \u00a0many of my clients thank me profusely. \u00a0For some reason I often have a hard time accepting thanks. \u00a0When I was growing up I think it was part of the culture to assume that when somebody was just doing their job, there was no need to thank \u00a0them. \u00a0And if somebody thanked me I tended to say “no need to thank me” or “it was nothing” or other similar words which more or less blew it off. \u00a0Later in life I learned that such responses diminish the importance of the gratitude being expressed and the person expressing it, and a simple “you’re welcome” is a much better way to respond.<\/p>\n
Gratitude is one of the most noble of feelings and it should always be acknowledged – still it remains hard for me to do. \u00a0Even so, with the client’s permission I’d like to share with you the following somewhat poetic excerpt from an email I received from one of the clients who recently got that discharge:<\/p>\n
“This is the best holiday present ever!
\nThat difficult experience of the past few years can now finally be a ghost….So many sleepless nights.
\nThank you David for helping us to straighten out our lives..
\nWe still have a hard road a head to try to prepare for being too old to be employed…
\nIt would have been impossible with the mess we were in and it is still a long shot but we do have better odds now.
\nYou were our guiding light and we will always be grateful.
\nMany many thanks to you David, …….”<\/p>\n
I tend to get a little emotional around the holidays anyway, but this email really touched me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During the holidays several of my clients received their bankruptcy discharge. \u00a0The discharge is a court order which states that the Debtor is no longer legally obligated to repay most if not all of \u00a0his or her debts. \u00a0In most cases the only debts that are not discharged are student loans and taxes. \u00a0Sometimes even … <\/p>\n