$20 Black & Decker Drill

… Keeps going through my head over and over. All this mess with T’s family over grandparent’s estate. Everyone squabbling that they want a lawyer and to get their fair share. Going to land the damn thing in probate where it will be tied up for YEARS, more likely. And lose all kinds of $ in the process.
I wish it was just over with.

It’s been over 20 years now since my grandpa Keith died. (Is that even POSSIBLE? )
Unfortunately, I still have vivid memories of the events right before and after his death. My mom and uncle fighting over the scraps of his life like a pack of hyenas. My then-boyfriend had to yell at them both the night following grandpa’s death. They got in a screaming match in the living room over end which of them was going to take this stupid cordless drill. SCREAMING.
I told bf, “If they don’t stop, I’m going to grab it from them grandpa smash it to bits. Then there won’t’ be anything to fight over.” He made them stop. Told them they were acting like children.
My grandpa lived in a small rental apartment. He made chili for AA meetings on weekends. He had just retired from years of working in theaters. He wore 3 piece suits everyday for years. He found out he had throat cancer just after Christmas. By May 10th, he was gone. I loved him dearly.
I wanted to take home things that smelled like him, his comforter, his clothes… I wanted movie posters, because of anything else there, I felt those represented him best. My mother and uncle walked in before grandpa had even had time to be embalmed and started taking stock of anything valuable. His jewelry. The car. The furniture, appliances, stuff like that. Their interests clearly weren’t about remembrance, but “what’s in it for me?”
For all the fighting, I’ll bet they couldn’t even tell you where half that stuff is now. Some of it was sold for $. Some is rotting in my mother’s garage. Clearly, she cherished every thing she brought home. It destroyed what little relationship there was between my mom and get brother. It sickened me in a way I never forgave either of them for.
Now, I’m watching my husband’s family do the same thing. Fighting over a couple sheds full of yardsale stuff, boxes of old magazines full of brown recluse, a tiny metal boat, a tractor that doesn’t run and a a few beer stiens. The whole lot couldn’t be worth more than a couple thousand $. They act like the Hope Diamond and the Crown jewels are in those sheds.
It makes me unbelievingly sad. His grandparents even had a living trust, trying to avoid this very situation. Why do people behave like this over stuff they didn’t even earn?
All I can think of while all this stupid drama goes on is, “$20 cordless drill.” And I wonder if anyone is bothering to water papaw’s Rose of Sharon bushes that he planted the year before he died. 😦

-B