When we die the best we can hope for is to be remembered and that our legacy is upheld by those who truly cared for us while we lived. As I am maturing, I have found when people depart this world those who appeared to love and revere us are often quick to bury us along with our legacy.
You may be asking yourself why I am so wry in thinking about death and remembrance. I have found that many of the people left behind are only interested in the spoils of the deceased. My aunt Lucille died over a year ago and everyone would like the world to believe she died a pauper.
My aunt had worked over 50 years for a notable fashion house where she had the option to own stock in the company and invest in other ventures quite heavily. She was also entitled to a pension which she never touched since she was the sort who was often concerned about a rainy day.
Besides her professional savings she had amassed a small fortune on her own in her retirement funds and investing wisely. Even her social security she never collected. As she grew older she much preferred to work although she was in her late seventies.
My aunt Lucille had a few health challenges but she was never ill to the point where she had to be hospitalized for long periods which would attribute to the dissolution of her finances.
Her jewelry alone was worth at least a quarter of a million dollars. Yet somehow after her death everything seemed to have magically disappeared. It is as if she never existed.
All during her life my aunt told me they were out to get her. She felt the vendetta they harbored against her were because of her financial holdings. The “they” she spoke of were certain members of my family. Despite the fact I believed her I never knew the depths “they” would go to get their hands on her fortune.
I am still disenchanted by the despicable way they put her away and with each day that passes I am even more buggered by the fact that no one has bothered to tomb her grave. She was always the one who would go around organizing funds when any member of the family passed away. She would ensure they had a proper burial and satisfactory entombment.
Nonetheless, after her own death no one has made it a priority to reciprocate in kind. The part which really bothers me is that on many occasions my aunt told me she left an executor of her will. In that will there was money allotted for her burial, entombing and to pay her debtors.
She also specified that whatever funds were owed to her by anyone would be collected by her estate. Unfortunately, when her demise was being plotted they apparently absconded with her last will and testament. Therefore her entombment remains in limbo.
The past few months I have been besieged with some disturbing truths which I find difficult to accept. One being that a person can work diligently in this life and gain wealth and through the plotting of nefarious characters that wealth can disappear overnight.
The second being, when you live a honorable and respectable life you cannot depend on others to ensure a honorable and respectable burial unless there are iron clad procedures put in place which are tamper free.
I am perturbed about all these developments and I feel it goes deeper than just any family feud. You see my aunt was a no-nonsense woman and like most Geminis she was blunt to a fault. She would talk openly about certain ethnic groups from time to time exposing their not so endearing qualities.
She was old school and from a different era and period where older folks did that sort of thing. I am well aware there were individuals within the family and outside of the family who did not take kindly to her opinions.
However, if they knew her well they would know that beneath the gruff, judgmental exterior lurked a kind, generous soul, and she was willing to help anyone providing they were a decent human being.
One winter has passed and she has not experienced a tombing, I wonder how long they are going to wait to accomplish the task…..?
Fighting For My Life Memoir 