Summertime and Friendship

Happy summer! Considering it is already July; somebody exclaimed to me for summer to slow down. I agree. I hope you are enjoying days being outside in the sun, farmers’ markets, opportunities to go to the lake, grilling, fireworks, and simple time with family and friends.

I had the opportunity last weekend to enjoy one of my favorite summer pastimes. I played golf with a long-time client of Greenleaf Trust. And, by long-time I mean 25 years. But he is more than a client, he is a very good friend of mine. He became a client in 2000, and I was fortunate enough to serve as his family’s Wealth Management Advisor for over 13 years. During that time, we worked together on managing his family’s investment portfolios, retirement planning, business opportunities, tax optimization strategies, estate planning, and philanthropic giving.

While doing all of this, we also shared a lot of life’s twists and turns together. My wife and I were building our family of two boys while he and his wife were navigating three boys in high school and beyond. Now that my boys are older, I share his words of wisdom with teammates of mine with young children – enjoy those days because it goes by like a freight train. We had meaningful discussions about the different stages of our busy careers, our families, and what we each hoped to be doing in the future. When he and his wife bought a condo in South Haven, they graciously had the whole Odar family out to swim and have dinner.

Our Illinois upbringing created a common fandom of the Monsters of the Midway (Da Bears) and the Chicago Cubs. Those allegiances were carefully put aside though whenever the University of Illinois played Michigan State in basketball. In fact, it was at one of those basketball games in East Lansing that I had to tell him through my tears that I was being promoted and would not be able to serve his family in the same way I had been over the last 13 years. My tears were not tears of joy, but of course his were.

I believe every friendship has a unique story. That said, I don’t think the story of our friendship is necessarily uncommon here at Greenleaf. We deeply value the trust our clients put in us and understand the work we do for them is important. Our core values drive us to put their needs before ours. We get to know our clients on a unique level and build meaningful relationships with them. Not because we have to but instead because we want to. Our goal is to serve their families from generation to generation. This is why I became a financial advisor and helped build a culture focused on relationships with teammates who value the same thing.

Over the last 12 years, we have made sure to get together as often as possible outside of Greenleaf to play golf and have dinner. The discussions are lighter but just as meaningful to me. So is the fact that each of his sons are now clients as well.

What a great way to spend a Sunday in the summer.

Epilogue: What’s not as meaningful is how that guy (I mean my friend) beat me on every single hole. He even asked if I was playing “client golf”!