Captainkirk's Duster project

Ted’'s funeral was a trip. Really. It was more like a funeral for a family member, because I knew Marie and his kids. And Ted was more like a father-figure than a boss. Many of our customers came, all as shell-shocked as us. Ted had made many friends in a few short years. Emotions ran high, as you might guess.
62 years old; strong as an ox……...WTF? It just didn'’t make sense. Nothing made sense. We had worked so hard to construct our little bullet-proof castles in which we could be Kings in our own little fiefdom, and here it was collapsing around us. I felt as if I were drowning. And then, like a dark storm cloud looming over our heads, was this Sword of Damocles of impending unemployment; what would become of the business?
We just kept showing up at work, booking ever more jobs and carrying on. Sam and I continued to do the things we knew how, and for the things we didn'’t; we would simply wing it. After a week, Marie started coming in and paying bills and payroll. She told us later that she was planning on just closing up shop, but she was amazed at the fact that things were hopping and money was rolling in the door! And so it continued……. Jobs cranking, money rolling in, Sam and I running the place with no direction required, and Marie stopping in for a couple hours a week to keep the bills, payroll and taxes paid. Still, we knew this had been Ted'’s baby, and she wanted to get shed of it, but the dire emergency was over and she felt she had some breathing room, so as not to just dump the place, or shut it down.
Saved by the bell, as they say.
We strengthened up the bulwarks and dug in.
Sam and I again had discussions. She offered us the company for the same deal Ted had made. Still, too much. Simply out of reach. Yeah, we could'’ve gone out on a limb…. WAY out. We spoke with bankers, but we didn'’t have enough collateral even if we liquidated our 401k’s. Which, in itself would be a stupid thing to do, or mortgage our houses, which would be even more stupid. Bear in mind this is a business that, while I loved it, was barely breaking even. Sort of like playing Russian Roulette with TWO bullets in the cylinder. One banker, after viewing the books, asked us why we even would WANT the business.
We plodded on, through October, November, and into December. Marie spoke with several interested parties; some she turned down, some WE turned down. Most of them were well-heeled pilots with lots of money and little understanding of how an aviation business operates. A few looked at the books and walked away scratching their heads as to why Ted had labored so hard for a few measly bucks a year. In aviation, we have a saying;

“The best way to make a small fortune in aviation, is to start out with a large one.”

That holds relatively true. So, why do we do it? Because we love it, and it is what we do. Why does a baker bake? Because he’'s fat and has an insatiable sweet tooth? No...…because he bakes…. He HAS to. It’'s what he does.
By December, Marie had narrowed it down to two players. One was a trusted customer, the other just popped out of the wood work. He was a student pilot, close to completion of his Private Pilot certificate, who had just sold a business for a rather large sum of money, and with a partner, wanted to build this business up to be a major contender. We talked, we did lunch, we heard their plans. Sounded pretty good. And really…..did we have much of a choice? Which is kinda the way we played it…….