In the spirit of the season, here's my interpretation of a heartwarming holiday classic. Potter Insurance Co. was rich, that's true, but it was also the best-loved financial institution in Bedford Falls.

Over the years, it had looked after the town's citizens: providing drunken Mr. Gower with BOP coverage and pharmacist professional liability (he really needed it); selling Ernie Bishop taxi fleet insurance for his one-flivver cab company (including supplemental UM/UIM); and even covering liquor liability for Martini's Bar (no small feat: Nick the Bartender had anger-management issues, and the bar had a claims history of aggravated battery charges for tossing patrons out the door).
But one day, Potter Insurance fell upon hard times. The generous company had insured some bad investments and now bankruptcy loomed. After exhausting all avenues of generating quick cash, Potter was forced to turn to George Bailey for help.
George-also known as John Q. Public, My Fellow American or “hey youobCrLf-was the town's ne'er-do-well. He had frittered away his family's ever-dwindling fortune on health insurance, utility bills, crazy 401(k) schemes, college tuition for his five bratty kids (including Zuzu, who had an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving flower petals) and a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage on the old Granville place.
But when it came to helping others, George was the stingiest man in town. Not only did he balk about paying $500 billion for a war-he even questioned whether we should have been involved in the first place! It was no wonder that Potter dreaded having to ask George for some quick cash.
As luck would have it, an angel in the Treasury Department, who was trying to earn his wings, formulated a plan. In a twinkling, the angels on Capitol Hill used their magical powers to give Potter Insurance all the money it needed. But there was a catch: Because George Bailey was providing the loan, he would get a controlling interest in Potter Insurance.
Word spread fast about George's newfound generosity. Soon, many more businesses came flocking to him for help-even General Motors. As quick as it took for the NYSE bell to ring, George Bailey, with his loans buying him interest in all those firms, became the “richest man in townobCrLf-if you looked at it the right way. To make matters even better, the angels granted Potter Insurance an even bigger loan at lower interest, with more time to pay it back. Surrounded by its executives and brokers at a gala holiday pheasant hunt in England, Potter Insurance was once again the best-loved business in Bedford Falls.
And as for cute little Zuzu Bailey? Well, she grew up to be responsible for paying back the more than $700 billion loan-and that's a lot of petals.

Laura M. Toops,
Editor