I just got back in town after a couple weeks offline, dealing with "the business end" of a death in the family. Thanks for all the comments. Its been a rough couple of months, but at least she passed relatively quickly and painlessly. Will someone please explain to my why the passing of someone will bring out the worst in people? My two sisters showed some appallingly inappropriate behavior during this whole time. When I pointed this out they looked at me like a crawled out from under a rock and said something about wanting a "legacy" for the family. Then they resumed bickering over which one of them gets what out of our mother's jewelry and taking paintings off the walls, (with my mother's husband in the room no less) like a couple of vultures.
Mark, Sorry about your loss. You and your family have been in my thoughts. Unfortunately, many people deal with intense grief in bad ways. I know it doesn't mean much, but they are probably just trying to "honor" their (and your) Mom by making sure the physical stuff lives on in the family. I completely agree with you though. I've seen many families making a horrible process much worse by bickering and in-fighting over dishes, jewelry, etc. Sorry you had to go through that as well.
I think it's because death scares the hell out of people, some more than others, and that makes us do crazy things. Whenever I'm annoyed by something my brother or sister has done I try adding up the stuff they have to forgive me for and then add about 10% for the stuff I dont even know I did. It gets things into perspective. Best Regards goshawk
When all folks have left are memories and some material stuff its easy to see things that you relate to your loved one and want the item/s intensely. When the wants of the bereaved overlap, you get the worst unfortunately. Sorry you had to go through both the shock of your mom's death and the less than classy behavior of your sisters. I'm not an expert or anything, just throwing out a possibility.
God bless the departed and grant you and yours the strength needed to get through these hard times. Thanks for all you do brother, you've enriched my life with your thoughtful tutorials, and made it just a bit easier for me to deal with my own. May you in turn be able to get through your dark hours and be a better man for it.
