Turn about IS fair play....mwah ha ha

Something interesting occurred to me recently, but I just have not had time to write lately.(more on this another time.) Some of these thoughts floated in while we were getting ready for our San Antonio trip. As you may remember, Mom decided she couldn't stay with the caregiver. The woman makes her crazy,or so she said...and I had this huge flashback (not drug related) of my grandfather, her father, and his caregiver. His caregiver was nothing like Mom's. Mom's is healthy, trim, well groomed and just plain fun. My grandfather just did not want his caregiver at all and Mom just had him suck it up. Mom knew she needed that time to herself.

Another memory: the little photo of the Hummel figure that I posted:Mom lived with her parents when my father died. She cared for her Mom and then cared for her Dad, who was not infirmed, but needed to be driven,cooked for.She shopped, cleaned and so on. When Mom met her 2nd husband, Grandpa and Mom broke up housekeeping. Grandpa moved to assisted living (which he complained mightily about) and Mom moved in with her own husband. Grandpa's caregiver suggested that THEY get married and stay in his house. Grandpa had thought Mom and her husband would live in the house with him.

My Grandfather had purchased a Hummel collection for our Grandmother. They were fairly expensive and she had a large number of them, as he would purchase one each time a new one came out. One day, after the house had been sold, Mom came home and all the Hummels were gone. A neighbor said she liked them and Grandpa sold her the collection and the special shelves for $350.00. My Mom was furious. He had never asked her if she or anyone else in the family wanted them.She was shocked and angry.

Flash forward to years ahead when my brother and I were helping Mom and Dad move out of their home. They were moving into assisted living and Mom was not happy about that. After hours of packing, my brother and I decided to take a break and go out for a bite to eat. While we were out for a little more than an hour, an antiques dealer came in. We knew he was supposed to come, but we had thought we would be there. Imagine our surprise to come home and find Dad's grandfather clock (actually given to him by his grandfather), some antique shelves,knick knacks, and an oil painting that had belonged to my grandmother. These pieces had been verbally promised to Dad's daughter and my sister, although there were other family members that would also have liked them. Just like the Hummels......they were gone!