Heirs Beware of Opportunists

It’s been a week tomorrow that my uncle passed on. I miss our phone calls so much because I always enjoyed talking with him on a myriad of subjects.

He lived alone in Arizona and as much as I tried to convince him to come here to Oregon, he just didn’t want to make the move. I understand that. So he had a caregiver who did things for him on occasion. He was still able to drive and do his own shopping, cooking, laundry, etc., so she really didn’t have to do much but pick things up for him once in a while.

Are you ready for this? They had an arrangement that he would email her every evening to let her know he was okay. If she didn’t get an email from him, she was supposed to call and then go over to his house if he didn’t answer. Last Wednesday she didn’t get an email from him so she called and there was no answer. But she didn’t go over to his house until the next morning. And that’s when she found him. He had passed in his sleep. It makes me wonder why she didn’t go over that evening. Maybe the answer is below …

It just so happens that she had a will drawn up for him stating that she would get his home and his car upon his passing. She is the executor of that will and is non-responsive to me at this point when I asked that she provide a copy for me. Apparently she took him to have it witnessed and notarized so it is perfectly legal.

My uncle never had any children so my two cousins and I are the only heirs to his estate. So we thought.

We are just blown away that this woman would take advantage of an 86 year old man, living alone, hard of hearing and probably irrational when this all took place. Occasionally his electrolytes would become unbalanced and it affected his cognitive abilities. I feel that she took full advantage of that.

Since she is the executor of his estate, I can’t even have his mail forwarded to me so that I can take of his lingering affairs like insurance, utility bills, etc. And it was like pulling teeth to even get a copy of his death certificate.

The reason I’m sharing this is to warn anyone who has a caregiver in a loved one’s life to beware of what could happen. I trusted this woman. Shame on me for doing so. I never thought she would turn out to be an opportunist and a thief.

I believe that what we give out is what we get back. Karma can come galloping up on a black horse at breakneck speed, especially for those who take advantage of others. No good can come from her ill-gotten gains.

Thanks for reading my rant. Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

Loss

Back in the 70’s, my Uncle encouraged me to buy an SLR film camera. With his help, I purchased a Pentax K1000. Wow! It was slick (at that time) but I didn’t know jack squat about that kind of camera. It was completely manual; no automatic settings at all. I was used to using a Fuji point and shoot 🙂

Well … long story short, he took me under his wing and taught me about focus, depth of field, shutter speed, natural light, bounce flash, and composition. Pretty much everything I needed to know. He had been a photo journalist for the Omaha World Herald newspaper and I really enjoyed looking through his collection of articles and images.

Soon after I got that camera, we went on a trip to Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA. We had such a good time, taking pictures all over the place, including sitting on the beach at sunset, capturing images of waves crashing on the rocks. Between the two of us, I think we shot 25 or 30 rolls of film.

He taught me so much and I’ll miss him and his encouragement. He passed away a few days ago. He was 86 and lived a great life, but losing him leaves another hole in my heart. My consolation is knowing that he’s now with my Mom, his big sister. They we so close. Now they are again.

R.I.P.

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

include yourself…

I love what Joanna did with this image of Buddha. Wise words to remember and live by …

it’s not what you see, it’s how you look at it

include yourself…

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The Calendar

Since my Mom passed away last September, I took to coloring to ease my sadness. I’ve found it to be very enjoyable and cathartic. As I sit there coloring, like I did in my youth, I think of Mom. As I mentioned in a previous post, she was the one who bought me my first box of 64 crayons, which I treasured. Sometimes she would take time to color with me. I cherish those memories.

Now I color using different media. Some are watercolor pencils, some are soft pigments, some are metallic and some are gel pens. I’m coloring a 2016 calendar now and have actually colored all the way through August. It’s actually quite addictive, but hey, I’ll take this addiction any day and I highly recommend it.

This image is of January. I call it the Koi Pond.

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

 

 

Wallpaper

Today’s image is of a wallpaper that I designed for my phone using Pixlr. I love that app. It’s free and anyone can get their creative juices flowing so easily with this app, available on the Google Play store. All I did was take one of the default wallpapers that came with my Samsung phone and then added the palm trees using Pixlr.

I love palm trees 🙂

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

 

Little Potatoes

I’ve always been a big fan of potatoes. Having spent a great deal of my childhood in Kansas, potatoes were a staple at our dinner table. Although in the midwest, we called it supper. (Breakfast was breakfast, lunch was called dinner, and dinner was called supper).

There wasn’t a supper at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house that didn’t include potatoes. One of my favorites was my Grandma’s fried potatoes, which she made with bacon grease and chopped onions all fried up nice and crispy in her cast iron skillet. By today’s standards her fried potatoes would be called unhealthy, but what I wouldn’t give for some of them now. I miss her and her wonderful down home cooking.

When I saw these little potatoes (of course I couldn’t resist), I decided I had to give them a try. Wow! They’re better than I thought they would be. So creamy and the red skins are thin. What’s not to love? But what first caught my eye was the name – Blushing Belle. Belle happens to be my granddaughter’s nickname, short for Annabelle.

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

Mutiny

I found this image on an alternative media site that I frequently read. As you may know, I don’t get my news from the mainstream media. It’s rigged to keep the populace in fear. I believe we need to draw our own conclusions by listening to our hearts – not our TV’s. Our intuition will never steer us in the wrong direction.

I feel like humanity is waking up to the truth of who we really are. We are powerful and very brave for being here now on this planet; our beautiful blue orb which we are responsible for maintaining. WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for. I don’t believe anyone is coming to SAVE us. We have to save ourselves. No longer can we say “oh, let someone else take care of that.” Apathy will not work anymore. Action is required now for our very survival and the survival of our planet. What action will you take to make a difference; to spread the truth; to bring more light and love into the collective consciousness?

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

Create, Create, Create!

I have declared that this year of 2016 A.D. is the year of creating. Feel free to adopt this declaration for yourself. In fact, I hope you do!

Sooooo … in honor of my new declaration, here is my post for today. It’s an image I took last January of a young buck in our front yard. Having moved to a more urban area in May of last year, sadly we don’t see deer anymore. I sure miss them.

I simply decided to add some texture to this image and a frame. Create, create, create!

Remember to be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’