“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” according to Ben Franklin and he is absolutely correct. As we learned in elementary school, preparing for tests was necessary. If we did not, we failed. Then, we had to work twice as hard to obtain a good grade for the next test. This obviously continued through high school and college. When any of us married and set up housekeeping we, of course, immediately learned that failing to prepare made us fail at cooking primarily. When I lived in the countrified suburbs where everyone had several acres and the grocery and other types of stores were a distance away, I quickly learned the value of stocking up. We had a basement in that home and a cold room that we used for keeping non perishable food items. Even with COVID if anyone forgot, being prepared was essential and many stores were completely out of a variety of foods. I remember a friend of mine asking me to buy rice and I bought the last one on the shelf for him. Failing to prepare for the seasons is another way of preparing to fail. In the cold climates various types of antifreeze are essential along with snow tires. Of course, families need warm clothing and blankets for the inclement weather and possible loss of power. That is one of the reasons generators became so popular. My late husband bought a generator that NEVER worked whenever we needed it. Failing to prepare for a trip can be quite costly. I have always made a list and then crossed off when I packed the items. Of course, years ago when we took our children on holiday it was four suitcases, not just for me. We often still forget one or two items, though. One of the biggest things is preparing our children for life. We do the best we can but we never know what will happen or how things will go, don’t you agree? The Good Gus Series is available online at Kindle, Nook and Waterstones. Hard copies, personally autographed, are available through our website www.goodgusbooks.com along with past blogs for your reading enjoyment. Now available audio and videos for the Good Gus series on YouTube! Digitizing for all the books are available now on YouTube! “Misplaced Trust” is now available on Amazon in e-book form. It is also available digitally at www.misplacedtrustbook.com. If you are thinking of a Will or a Living Trust, “Misplaced Trust” will give you the information you need to make an informed decision.