The Butterfly Figurine by Linda Nee
Martha kissed her two small children goodbye and watched them closely as they ran toward the school bus, lunch boxes flailing, and backpacks slipping off their small shoulders. It was a beautiful day in southern Maine. The sun glistened through the kitchen door and onto Martha’s small kitchen where she kept her collection of crystal figurines. Evidences of an early morning rain on the windows reflected spectrums of prism light from the small statues, an array light show which Martha loved to wake up to in the morning.
She watched as her son, Mathew 7, and daughter Chantal 9 ran to find their favorite seat next to their neighborhood friends. Most mornings, Martha’s children, like all others, were so engrossed with the start of their day, they almost never looked back to the mother waiting in the open door, waving goodbye. But, today, it was different. Unexpectedly, Mat and Tellie looked toward their mother and gave a quick wave. Martha smiled and waved back she watched the yellow bus move slowly down the street to the next stop, where more children got on the bus and began their day.
Martha closed the kitchen door and quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. Noticing her coffee was now cold, she refilled her cup with her favorite flavored coffee and asked out loud, “Now where did I hide those cigarettes?” She hadn’t smoked in, let’s see, how many years? Must be twenty-five years, at least, she thought.
Finding a crumpled package of old Marlboro’s in the back of one of her kitchen drawers, Martha sat down at the kitchen table, lit her slightly bent cigarette and inhaled deeply. It tasted good. After another good puff on her Marlboro, Martha picked up the letter from the insurance company and read it for what seemed like the hundredth time. “We regret to inform you we are no longer able to approve any future benefits. Since you no longer meet the definition of disability contained in your policy, you have received your last check……..”
“It was no use”, she thought. Things started to go downhill about a year ago when Dr. Weinhaus, a Rheumatologist, diagnosed her with fibromyalgia. The pain was almost impossible to bear at times, and her employer, grew increasingly concerned as she began to take more and more time off. Finally, her supervisor caught her in tears in the ladies room and suggested she apply for disability, which she did a week later. Knowing she had Shot-Term disability was somehow comforting, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
Martha’s employer, a local drug and pharmacy chain, paid the premiums on a group short-term and long-term disability policy, which she regarded as part of her meager benefit package offered to her at the time she was hired. Making application for the 26-weeks of short-term disability seemed easy enough, and within 5 days, Martha was paid weekly short-term disability benefits. Times were tough, but her employer continued to keep her as a legal employee and, thank goodness, her heath benefits were paid for. Unfortunately, despite Martha’s attempts to do everything possible to get back to work, her health did not improve and she was forced to continue her disability using Long-Term disability.
That’s when the trouble started. Her disability insurer, UNUM, began to send her letters asking for more and more medical information. She already provided her claims specialist with all the information she had, plus, she knew Dr. Weinhaus supported her disability and sent in his office treatment notes on a regular basis. Despite an overwhelming amount of physical therapy notes, office visit notes, and lab reports, provided by her doctors and specialists, UNUM eventually denied her claim. “Based on the medical information you provided, our in-house Board Certified medical consultants have determined there is no objective medical evidence to preclude you from performing your own occupation.”
“Who the hell are these in-house consultants, anyway?” Martha remembered thinking, “they haven’t examined me, and they know nothing about me at all.” “It is our determination that fibromyalgia is a syndrome, not a disease, and as such, you are able to perform the material and substantial duties of your own occupation. Therefore, we cannot approve any future benefits.” The news was devastating. Of course, she appealed the denial decision, but UNUM only said the same thing, “we don’t believe you can’t do your job.”
Without her monthly disability benefits, Martha had been unable to pay her mortgage and now she faced the loss of her home. Although her supervisor initially supported her long-term disability leave of absence, the drug store chain terminated her employment after a year, leaving her without health insurance or resources to buy the pain medication she needed in order to function on a daily basis. COBRA payments were out of the question. Recently, she stopped seeing her doctors because she just couldn’t afford the specialist fees, and besides Mat and Tellie needed new shoes, and Mat wanted a Cub Scout uniform so he could attend meetings, and feel “like the other guys.”
UNUM had even taken her Social Security Disability Income lump sum check for both herself and her children. She depended on that money to bring the mortgage up to date, but UNUM said they would keep her monthly benefit if she didn’t pay them back. Reluctantly, she wrote the check for $16,543.00 and sent it to the insurance company. That’s when she could no longer afford her much needed medical treatment, and try as she might, she just didn’t seem to get any better.
Martha rubbed her shoulders, and then winced in pain. She hurt. “Isn’t there anyone out there who can help me?” she cried out loud in frustration. But, Martha knew the answer and her decision was clear. She just couldn’t take it anymore. Walking to the curio cabinet in the corner of the kitchen, she admired her crystal figurines for a few moments and then removed her favorite– a butterfly. It was beautifully made and was given to her by her mother just before she passed away a few months ago.
As Martha turned the figurine over in her hands, she remembered her mother’s words to her when, as a teenager, she suddenly lost her summer job at the Maine Mall. “You can always tell the character of a person, Martha, by the way they handle adversity. You can cry and stay in your room, or, you can get dressed and look for another job. It’s up to you.”
“Yeah, Mom, there are adversities, and then there are catastrophes”, Martha thought to herself. “This situation is a little more complicated than losing a summer job. No money, is no money when you have two kids to support.”
Back at the kitchen table Martha put her face in her hands and sobbed. “Can’t anyone help me? Suddenly, Martha was jolted by the ringing of her phone. Drying her eyes with the palm of her hand, and carefully placing the butterfly figurine on the table, she answered, “Hello.”
“Martha, this is Sam Ellis from the West Newfield Country Store. Do you remember me?”
“I’m fine. Look, Samantha and I need some help with the store since Cliff, our cashier quit, and old Mr. Wilson at Town Hall mentioned that maybe you might be able to help us out. He told us about your disability an’ and all, and I think we can accommodate your hours where you would still be of help to us. Are you interested?”
“Of course”, Martha whispered, taken back by the unexpected opportunity. I’m very interested.”
Look, I’ll have Samantha give you a call to iron out the details. I know the money isn’t great, but we thought we’d offer you the job first. See ya.”
Martha hung up the phone, stunned with what just happened. The light from the kitchen window embraced the butterfly figurine still sending prisms of colorful light dancing on the kitchen walls. Martha smiled, and butterfly in hand, she stared out the window.
Touching the crystal butterfly ever so softly, she whispered, “Thanks, Mom.”
There are probably thousands of insureds who are faced with bad news from their disability insurance companies every day. As a Consultant, my thought is that if there are options, there is always hope. And, like Martha’s butterfly figurine, insureds often possess the capability of metamorphosing themselves with successful lives.
Disability isn’t the end of the world, but can be a change to a new quality of life depending on the person’s perception, and attitude. I hope you enjoyed the story!
