"Not entirely cricket..."
My sister and I drove to Bend, Oregon on Monday morning to attend the funeral of her deceased lovers' mother, Mary.
Marytine and Sharon had gotten together in 1993, one year before my partner Obe passed away. Marytine was an out-going person, and we thought it was a good match. That is, until we found out about the beatings and the put-downs that Sharon was subjected to. We suspected these things, and I found out for certain after Marytine and Obe had both died.
But Sharon and I kept in contact with Mary up in Bend. She and her live-in boyfriend knew all about Sharon and Marytine, so that was not a problem. And after Marytine died, Sharon and I became the sort of adopted by Mary. We made trips up when we could, and Mary and Harold (the boyfriend) came down when they could.
Harold died a few years back, and Mary eventually moved into a retirement complex. A nice place, if pricey.
Mary had been in failing health over the years, and a while back went into hospice care. I went up to see her, and she appreciated the visit. She told me that once she was gone that everything was taken care of, everything in her apartment was marked as to who was to get what, and that Sharon would be getting some money. Sharon and I knew this, and also knew that it would probably not be much. Mary was so prepared that she knew what her funeral dress was to be (a very nice blue number), what jewelry she would be wearing, and what the notice would say. She was very prepared
Well, once she was gone, the woman in charge of her affairs stepped in and started to give away things without caring whose name was on it. The stuff that was meant to go to Sharon was "given away" by Mary during the last week of her life, we were told. We know that is not the truth, but we are not family in the biological sense and did not argue. But the woman had Mary buried in a black dress that she did not like, and also had a stuffed cat placed on her stomach with her hands holding it. Mary HATED cats, and that would not have been her wish. But we just looked on and smiled and knew that it was wrong, but could say nothing. Her cousin was there and knew that this was wrong too, but she is up there in years too and let it slide.
Once we got back to the cleaned out apartment, we were given a few trinkets and allowed to go over the pickings for what ever we could find that we might want. So we did, and came back home that same night. It is an 8-hour drive up and another back, more if you stop to gamble at the Kla-Mo-Ya casino, which we did on the way back.
The will had not been read yet, and we will see what the executrix does to further mess things up for Sharon.
On the way back, we stopped at a rest area on highway 5 between Willows and Williams. A tempest seemed to be brewing. The wind was really blowing hard as I walked to the restroom, and the ground seemed to be alive and there was a crunching sound. Once I got to the lights near the restroom, I saw that the ground was covered with crickets! Thousands of them! Maybe it was a sign from Mary! Rest in peace, old girl.
Marytine and Sharon had gotten together in 1993, one year before my partner Obe passed away. Marytine was an out-going person, and we thought it was a good match. That is, until we found out about the beatings and the put-downs that Sharon was subjected to. We suspected these things, and I found out for certain after Marytine and Obe had both died.
But Sharon and I kept in contact with Mary up in Bend. She and her live-in boyfriend knew all about Sharon and Marytine, so that was not a problem. And after Marytine died, Sharon and I became the sort of adopted by Mary. We made trips up when we could, and Mary and Harold (the boyfriend) came down when they could.
Harold died a few years back, and Mary eventually moved into a retirement complex. A nice place, if pricey.
Mary had been in failing health over the years, and a while back went into hospice care. I went up to see her, and she appreciated the visit. She told me that once she was gone that everything was taken care of, everything in her apartment was marked as to who was to get what, and that Sharon would be getting some money. Sharon and I knew this, and also knew that it would probably not be much. Mary was so prepared that she knew what her funeral dress was to be (a very nice blue number), what jewelry she would be wearing, and what the notice would say. She was very prepared
Well, once she was gone, the woman in charge of her affairs stepped in and started to give away things without caring whose name was on it. The stuff that was meant to go to Sharon was "given away" by Mary during the last week of her life, we were told. We know that is not the truth, but we are not family in the biological sense and did not argue. But the woman had Mary buried in a black dress that she did not like, and also had a stuffed cat placed on her stomach with her hands holding it. Mary HATED cats, and that would not have been her wish. But we just looked on and smiled and knew that it was wrong, but could say nothing. Her cousin was there and knew that this was wrong too, but she is up there in years too and let it slide.
Once we got back to the cleaned out apartment, we were given a few trinkets and allowed to go over the pickings for what ever we could find that we might want. So we did, and came back home that same night. It is an 8-hour drive up and another back, more if you stop to gamble at the Kla-Mo-Ya casino, which we did on the way back.
The will had not been read yet, and we will see what the executrix does to further mess things up for Sharon.
On the way back, we stopped at a rest area on highway 5 between Willows and Williams. A tempest seemed to be brewing. The wind was really blowing hard as I walked to the restroom, and the ground seemed to be alive and there was a crunching sound. Once I got to the lights near the restroom, I saw that the ground was covered with crickets! Thousands of them! Maybe it was a sign from Mary! Rest in peace, old girl.