I hadn’t seen Paul and Joanne since their grandson’s birthday party in July, so I was looking forward to having lunch together this past Wednesday. They were both looking fit, I thought, having obviously lost weight since our last encounter. I made a mental note that each had left a few forkfuls of food on their plates—commendable discipline.

Apart from our usual small talk, Joanne dropped the news that they had decided to sell their home here and relocate to their hometown of Grand Haven, Michigan. Initially, this reflected Paul’s preference, and Joanne had been resistant. However, the way Joanne explained it to me, over the past year, she slowly warmed up to the idea of moving.  Even after many years away, Paul and Joanne have a group of friends who never left, and she has numerous relatives living in the area. While moving away would entail leaving behind their eldest son, Andy, and two of their grandkids, it would mean being closer to their other son, Joe, who already lives in Michigan with his two children.

It wasn’t as if the idea had come suddenly, a thunderbolt out of the blue. In fact, I recall Paul talking about it more than once. The thought of relocating seemed reasonable to me. They bought a retirement home in Grand Haven a few years ago, before Paul retired. Since then, they have spent the spring and summer months there. Though left unspoken, I suspected that retirement economics was playing a prominent role in the decision.

My suspicion seemed confirmed once Paul turned to business. Recently, he had approached me as a potential “investor” in a venture he is promoting for Joe.  Joe is a university-trained musician, a talented keyboardist, and a singer. Among his numerous musical pursuits, Joe occasionally tours as the keyboardist for a musical group that is based in Ireland. Now, this group is seeking to make inroads into the U.S. market, beginning with a Fall 2025 tour of respectable, albeit smaller, music venues in several major cities.  If this tour goes well, then a larger tour could well be in the offing next year.

I like Joe. Most importantly, however, Joe was Lee’s favorite. and I believe that she would want to help him. Even before hearing Paul’s pitch at lunch, I had already made up my mind to make a large loan.

Meanwhile, while we ate and kibitzed, Joanne mentioned that she and Paul would be caring for Andy’s kids for the next four nights, while Andy, his wife, and some of their friends traveled to New Orleans to celebrate Andy’s fiftieth birthday. Upon hearing this, I asked whether Andy, a successful corporate attorney in the prime of his career, was also investing in Joe’s tour.  I assumed that he wasn’t. Otherwise, Paul wouldn’t need to pitch me. Indeed, Paul admitted that he first approached Andy, who had refused to make a loan, citing overwhelming personal expenses.

I was sorry if my question embarrassed Paul, not that I asked.