You Just Can't Make This Up - The Short Version

This is a long and drawn out story.  There are myriad details that contribute to the story that, if left out, you will be wondering how and why things happened the way they did.  However, since this is such a long story, I will write a condensed version first.  If you are intrigued by the summary, then you can take the time to read the full, novella length version.

 

Chapter 1  -  Bee got sick and died, and my mom took care of her.

My mom’s very closest cousin, Bee, died; my mom was with her.  My mom had been with her for the last two weeks of her life, first at the hospital when she got the devastating cancer diagnosis, and at home along with hospice.  When she was still well, Bee made my mom executor of her estate.  When she went into the hospital, she gave my mom power of attorney over her estate, finances, and medical, and signed the title to her car over to my parents.  When she died, it was my mom who made all the arrangements, and all the phone calls, and did all the exhausting work that goes into the after death care of a loved one.

 

Chapter 2  -  A little background.

Bee married late in life, and had no children of her own.  She was also an only child, but her parents and my moms parents were EXTREMELY close, so my mom and her two siblings are like Bee’s siblings.  The man she married was nearly 20 years older than she was, and had four grown daughters.   From here on out I will refer to the step daughters as Evil Step Daughters, or ESD. 

 

Chapter 3  -  The beginning of the final wishes.

For the two weeks before Bee died, my mom stayed at Bee’s house.  After Bee died, my mom continued to stay at Bee’s house, and because my dad, sister, and I were there with her, we stayed there too.  Since she was named executor of Bee’s estate, and had power of attorney over the estate, she began to do what needed to be done to settle the estate.  Bee had a book, like a “last wishes diary”, that spelled out who in the family she would like certain possessions to go to.  She even took pictures of things like furniture and jewelry and wrote explicit instructions as to whom the item(s) should go with.   Following the book's instructions, my mom parceled out some little items to the people who were there with her, helping her get ready for the funeral.  (Mom’s brother and sister, another close cousin, my sister, and me.)  The ESD wanted no part in any of the preparations, and never came to the house, even to offer condolences, or commiserate with my mom. 

 

Chapter 4  -  The day we buried Bee.

  Around 7:30 pm on the day we buried Bee, two of the four ESD and one of their husbands, (who smelled very strongly of alcohol, and exhibited moronic tendencies, earning himself the title of Drunk Moron, or DM), came to Bee’s house.  DM was the front man, while the two ESD lurked back out of sight for a few minutes.  They had with them the police and a 15 year old will, and declared  that we were trespassing and we had 10 minutes to pack up all of our personal belongings and leave or we would be arrested.   Mom got her POA paperwork out but Team ESD & DM insisted that the will trumped ANYTHING my mom could produce.  We vacated as quickly as we could, but it took about a half hour.  After about five minutes, when the police saw that the four of us, (Mom, dad, Andrea, and me), were not going to cause a domestic disturbance, or refuse to leave, they told DM that they were going to go take care of some real calls.

There was a slight verbal confrontation in the garage when my parents were trying to load their car with their stuff because Team ESD & DM insisted that the car was theirs too.  In the end, my parents drove off with it, but as soon as they left the driveway, one of the ESD was on the phone with the police, reporting  the car stolen.

 

Chapter 5  -  The end of the day that we buried Bee. 

We ended the night safe and warm at a dear friend’s house, but thoroughly traumatized, angry, and another word for abysmally heartbroken that I can’t think of right now.  Bee’s house ended the night with all the locks changed so that we couldn’t get back into the house, ever.  Oh, and by the end of the night there was a warrant out for my dad’s arrest (and maybe mom’s too, I’m not sure), for stealing the car.

 

Chapter 6  -  The day after we buried Bee.

The following day, we did a few legal things.  Mom and dad took the car title, which Bee had signed over to them to the secretary of state, (DMV for everyone else in the country), and had the car legally put in their name.  (Mom had the car added to her insurance right after Bee signed it over to them, so they already had that)  And they were issued a transit plate so that when they get back home to Georgia they just have to take that in and get a Georgia plate.  They also went to talk to Bee’s lawyer.  Bee’s lawyer was her husband’s lawyer before they were married, so he knows the ESD.  Mom and dad explained what happened the night before, and the lawyer made all the right, “Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe they did that!” noises.  Mom brought him the “last wishes diary” book, after making a copy of each and every page of it for her records, and he said that since Bee signed and dated everything, it should act as a holographic codicil, and take precedence over the 15 year old will.

 

Chapter 7 -  The end of the day after we buried Bee.

There were a few things that were left at the house in our hasty retreat the night before, so the lawyer went to Bee’s house with us to retrieve them.  He went in to talk to Team ESD & DM first, while we waited outside.  When he came out again, he told us that they were much too hostile still, and he thought it would be better if we just told him what we needed and he would get it and bring it out to us.  He did, and after it was all with us, he told us that we could go, but that he was going to go back in and see what he could do to talk Team ESD & DM  into rescinding the warrants for mom and dads arrests.

 

FYI:  What will be included in the full version.

This is the short version of the story.  The long version includes timeline details, finite details of the confrontational events,more family history, character sketches, and my speculation about a few different moments in the story.  I’ll even throw in some pictures!