When my mom was sick, she needed my help with some things and she hated it. She really didn’t like me knowing her business, but she needed my help. So we wrote a will and worked up a power of attorney with an online legal site and we practiced and practiced her signing her name. I was holding her hand and we were both trying to make the first few letters of her name come out and it was all scribbles and I said, “mom, I don’t even think you’re trying” and she started laughing so hard she could barely speak which is ironic since she could barely speak anyway, but finally she gets out, after we’re both laughing so hard there are tears, that she thinks I’m trying to help her sign “Sherrie”, which I am, but she’s trying to write “Bailey” so we laugh some more and try again and it still looks like scrawl and makes me sad, but it’s enough for the notary who’s coming by on Sunday after church with my aunt. And on Sunday, what happens is I “help” my mom sign her name and he notarizes it and it reminds me of two years before, right after the diagnosis when I (along with my sisters) insisted that my mom put my grandmother in a nursing home and of course we didn’t want to do it, but my mom couldn’t take care of her anymore and it was too hard to start with and we had to forge my grandmother’s signature on all this paperwork bullshit and my mom says, “I can sign her name perfectly”. And after my mom died, I found a traveler’s check and if it had been for less than $50, I wouldn’t have thought too much about it, but it was for $100 and I showed my dad and asked how he could cash it since my mom wasn’t there to sign her name on the second line and he said, “I can sign your mother’s name.” So what’s up with all this forgery? I did it in high school to excuse those many absences. I always used my dad’s name because his writing was easy to duplicate. My son did it on a check once and in one of his “come clean” periods told me about how many times they had to try to do it – over and over – ‘til finally they got it “right”, but the jig was up anyway because he was acting funny when we made our daily stop at the store and I asked the owner if he had been in there earlier and the owner said yes and showed me a check. My son had been in there with legitimate checks a hundred times so I don’t know what was weird about this one but the store owner had a funny feeling too, I guess. Now sometimes, I’ve told my sons to just sign my name – on forgotten school forms that are on deadline – so maybe that’s the needed invitation to forgery - whatever seems necessary at the time.
Thoughts from Huntsville, Texas...
Family, kids, education, politics, love, life...
SassyKat
- Location
- Huntsville, Texas, USA
- Birthday
- April 14
- Title
- Educator
- Company
- Huntsville ISD
- Bio
- WHAT PEOPLE MIGHT SAY IF I DIED:
She sent us poems all the time.
I admit I didn’t read too many of them.
I wish I would have.
She was domestically challenged,
but a really good cook.
She loved her job, but hated
the BS.
She tended toward depression.
She was psychotic in relationships.
She loved her shoes.
She had a way with kids.
Her bedroom was a terrible mess.
She had a great sense of humor,
but I think there was tangible sadness.
She loved her daddy.
She missed her mom.
Her sisters were her best friends.
She adored her extended family.
She was cranky when she woke.
She did everything for her kids.
I think she had secrets.
She was the first one in the family who
admitted taking Prozac.
She was in therapy for years.
She was abrasive and sarcastic.
When she was sad, she got way too thin.
She worked hard, but was actually lazy by
nature.
She had her toenails painted outrageous
colors.
She loved old people.
She was a friend to people with problems.
She had messy hair.
She was funny.
She wasn’t good with money.
She spoiled her children.
She was good to her mother when it
mattered most.
She was spiritual.
She believed in God.
She called herself a Buddhist Methodist.
She wasn’t exactly sweet,
but she was definitely kind.
She had a quick temper,
but learned to control it most of the
time.
She read a lot.
She worshipped pop culture.
She loved all music.
She drank wine, but not too much.
She liked beer.
She believed in keeping her “enemies”
close.
She was good to her friends.
She could be self-centered.
She passionately wanted to help kids
learn.
She was a member of the A.C.L.U.
She drove a mini-van
but would have looked better in a
Honda.
She loved her poodle.
She could sleep anywhere.
She was not someone you messed with.
She liked to watch television.
She loved Elvis.
MY RECENT COMMENTS
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thanks.”
August 12, 2008 01:15PM - “While buying my son a
new MP3 player, I decided to
get one,
too. This was a
few…”
August 12, 2008 01:08PM - “Teaching in a low
socio-economic school district
for many
years has me WISHING
I…”
August 12, 2008 12:37PM - “Read it. Write it. Enjoy
it. Understand
it.
AND
Skim through
it, laugh AT it,
don…”
August 12, 2008 12:33PM - “14%
I squirmed a bit
answering the questions
truthfully, too...”
August 12, 2008 12:26PM
SassyKat's Links
Updates
-
Angie's boobs, but not mine
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My Most Excellent Mother's Day Story
-
Barnes & Noble's Nook Unit Falls Off. Ouch.
-
Have Yourself a Merry Little Apocalypse - Repost
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I Can't Fucking Forget
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Author Interview with Gene Doucette
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Brief history of time, truncated fore and aft
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Introducing . . . Salon's new TV critic

Salon.com
Comments
leads to calming poetry
still need Elvis though
I echo Sally's welcome and look forward to more posts!