Costco Connection

run the business. “My initial reaction was that I can’t rebuild a home and a business,” she explains. “I e-mailed my out-of-town Web programmers, Rocket Web Consulting, to send their final invoices, that I was closing.”

But at that point a series of events took place that kept BnBFinder.com alive and exemplifies, in a small way, the spirit of America following the terrorist attacks. White’s Web programmers responded that they would run her site at no charge until she could pay. Staying in a friend’s apartment, she was able to get a computer set up and go online. Using Costco’s Nova credit-card-processing service, she was able to reestablish online transactions.

BnBFinder.com survived. White and her family returned to their building in November and she reopened her home business.

“I choose not to think about the horror and fear of that time; instead I focus on how lucky I am,” she says.—TT

BnBFinder.com can be contacted at: www.BnBFinder.com or 1-888-469-6663

Frank Bulei broke his neck, but not his spirit. His construction business is now better than ever. (Don’t try this without goggles and saw safety guard!)

Sam Asbury

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

When he received his orders, he saw that all disappearing.

In the few weeks he had to prepare, Asbury discussed his situation with two attorneys, both friends, and they struck upon an unusual solution. One agreed to take over Asbury’s cases and handle the trials. The other would handle new business that developed in Asbury’s office. “We agreed to a 65/35 split,” says Asbury. “The 35 percent, along with my active-duty pay, covered ongoing expenses— barely.” Thinking positively, he also decided to renew his advertising agreements.

DAVID W. MOSER PHO TOGRAPH Y

Frank Bulei
Enchanted Places
Spring Mount, Pennsylvania

Ten years ago, Frank Bulei, 32, was on top of the world. His business, building custom homes and additions, was thriving.

While Asbury was in Kuwait, his wife, Melinda, took over the business and trust accounts, so she could keep home and business bills paid.

Then he broke his neck.

“This is a love story,” writes his wife, Deborah, in a moving account sent to The Connection.

After a year, Asbury returned, expecting to have to start over from scratch.

“The first day I was back, I was encouraged,” he says. Although several clients had gone to other attorneys because he was not available, potential clients had continued to call, which Asbury attributed to keeping his advertising current.

It’s also a story about determination and perseverance, about dogged personal motivation and about how good fortune can follow a time of bad luck.

“For weeks his
tools lay idle and I
took care of him,”
Deborah writes.
“Spring came, and
with it came the real-
ity that he might lose
everything he had
worked so hard for.”

“Additionally, a handful of clients did not have time-sensitive issues, and literally waited for me to return.”

Bulei had steadily built his construction business, gaining customers by word-of-mouth referrals. He had just brought home a bride, Deborah, to an early-1800s farmhouse that was nearly renovated.

physically demanding job. “For weeks his tools lay idle and I took care of him,” Deborah writes. “Spring came, and with it came the reality that he might lose everything he had worked so hard for. So, setting his mind against failure, and gritting his teeth against the pain, Frank Bulei stood up straight to his full 6 feet and started the long walk back.” The first step was to make a small garden house for Deborah. He decorated it with a variety of handmade swings, benches and arbors.

“I’ll never know if that ‘big case’ passed me by,” Asbury says, “but I am proud to have done my part for my country and I feel blessed that my family was cared for and my business survived.”—T. Foster Jones

But then he started experiencing debilitating pain in his shoulders and neck. After lengthy tests, doctors detected broken bones in his neck. He undoubtedly suffered the injury while on the job.

The Buleis sold some of the woodcrafts at a local crafts show, and the response was immediately overwhelming. Customers once again hired Frank for high-end remodeling projects, and business today is better than ever.