The last two weeks were hard, a trying time for me. I wanted to be there for Charlie, to be a place of peace and rest and reason when everything else was chaotic. Not only did he have to deal with the fact that his Grandpa was dying but all the drama that goes along with that family... oh, my, gosh. They had ex-wives and estranged kids coming out of the woodwork, funny what greed does to people. I suppose morbid curiosity and the distant hope of maybe "getting something" out of the deal was their driving force. I have never in my life seen anything more ugly than greedy family members fighting over a dying parent's(or grandparen's) money and goods.
For a while, a few days at least, before Pop died and still needed them, the grandsons pulled together and acted like family. Charlie thought there might be hope of having a loving relationship with them. But, by the time the funeral happened they were getting drunk and high and fighting amongst themselves. Charlie told me that at the funeral one of the grandsons three ex-wives were there. Ex-wives of the long dead uncles showed up, women that haven't been seen in more than twenty years. One showed up with her new husband,got drunk,got in a fight and then left. What could she possibly have wanted and why did she come all the way from Mexico to do that?? Another ex-wife of the same uncle showed up from Arkansas, this one hasn't been seen in more than thirty years and she tried to claim a spot in the will for a daughter that no one has seen. period.
For the whole two weeks L.D.'s young wife (30 years younger than he) flitted around the perimeters keeping tabs on what was going on all the while spending his money as fast as she could, locking the grandkids out of his house, having things out of the house moved somewhere else and then disappeared not even coming to the funeral.
CRAZY, the whole family is crazy. Mean and crazy.
by the end of the two weeks I was frazzled just from listening to Charlie and Melissa when they needed to come here to talk and rest.
I'm just glad for Charlie that it is over and he has gone home to Alabama away from this mess. He left it for them to sort out because he refused to fight over his Grandparents money with the rest of them.
7 comments:
BTW.. I did not go to the funeral.
Good for Charlie....He made the right decision. Very sad he had to go through the mess....I do hope there was times you were able to enjoy in the 2 weeks.
steph, we were able to sit and talk a lot which was nice even tho it was hard
Chaos in life always seems to equal greater chaos in death. I hope I have the ability Charlie showed to just walk away from the chaos. Nothing material is worth entering into that mess. Good for Charlie, I'm glad you were able to sit and talk a while.
So, Anj, does that mean my death should be peaceful :)
at least my kids won't have to fight over my money... cause I don't have any!!!
and, one of the things that I have stressed to all my kids is that peace at any price is worth it! something I learned from living in that chaotic mess.
I'm so glad ya'll were able to sit and talk....I'm sure it was very needed for both of you.
A - Well hopefully that aftermath of it will be peaceful for those left behind. I like that - peace at any price is worth it. My siblings fought with my father about my aunt's will, and none of them were even mentioned in it! That is when I decided - walk away walk away. Whether there is money or not doesn't seem to impact some families. But I do hope buy the time you go things have recovered for you all. :)
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