When Betty and Bobby Bibb were in their 20s and dancing to Elvis Presley singing “Love Me Tender,” they never could have suspected that their lives together would be cut short. Everything changed when Betty received the awful call that there had been an accident at work and Bobby, 39, hadn’t survived. Without warning, Betty was faced with having to raise four girls on her own. In addition to her own grief, so much more fell upon her shoulders: the task of living, of picking up and carrying on, and keeping the family together.

Loss at a young age

Actress Leslie Bibb, whose recent credits include roles in “Iron Man 2,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” and “Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” was just 3 when her dad died. At the time, Leslie had no idea what life insurance was and how it benefitted her mother. Today, Leslie realizes the enormous impact it had on her life. “If my dad didn’t have life insurance, everything would have changed for our family,” says Leslie. “We would have had to sell our home. My mom would have been forced to work longer hours or get a second job. But none of that happened because of my dad’s thoughtfulness. How did he know at such a young age that he needed life insurance? Well he didn’t, and that’s the point. He simply loved us enough to expect the unexpected.”

A legacy of love

Leslie’s father understood that a life insurance purchase is an act of love—a promise to provide for the ones you love, even after you’re gone. That’s the legacy he left for his family. Although pictures are Leslie’s only memories of her father, she credits him with helping her understand that love truly can be everlasting: “The love we show while we are alive is why we live. The love we show after we are gone allows life to continue on.”

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