A mentor's number

When I was age 26, after working as an employee, on and off, for about eight years, I bought my first retail franchise. In my office I kept a plaque which read “L V SALES LTD.”, the business shingle passed on to me by the family of my late mentor and friend, L V. L had prospered in the post-war years of the 1950s and 60s as a clothing supplier. I met him at church through his grandson. During the 1990s, and until L’s death later that decade, he encouraged us to develop, among other virtues, responsible financial habits. With two years as a business owner under my belt, I was asked to operate an additional store. The available site’s ID number was “7696”—propitious to me because L’s telephone number ended with those digits, in that same order. An omen, or coincidence? I’m not sure. The event certainly brought L to mind more than a decade after his death. I accepted the offer, and operated both locations until the company folded two years later.