Although the principles may be well known by those in the field, the text should be sufficiently self-explanatory for a general reader to understand the broad outlines.
--Marian Branch
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! It is great so far. It's amazing to me how great I feel. This is the lowest point in American history in our lifetime: we're on the brink of a depression, and I see no way to avoid it. Yet, I am more optimistic than ever. President Obama has made me feel proud to be an American. I have greater hope than I've felt for a long time. Get up those pictures. I'd love to see them. I will continue to put up photos of my friends and family.
Take care,
Christina
Take care,
Christina
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Call It Fiction 4
Chapter Four
November 1986
Near when Ruth and Gaines began claiming that Gaines was my father's attorney--It was the evening after I was informed that Gaines claimed that my father came to see him (October 31, 1986).
6:30 pm
I went to the house on Port Road. Ruth came to the door. I said that I wanted to see my father.
She said, "He's busy. What do you want to talk to him about?"
I said, "I just want to talk to him."
She said, "You're upset, honey, and you're just going to upset him."
I said, "I'm perfectly calm. I just want to talk to him."
She allowed me to push past her into the house. I went to one of the bedrooms. He was in there sitting on the bed. He asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to talk to him. Ruth didn't follow me immediately. She came in after my father and I had said those few words. She began pulling on my wrists, saying, "You have to leave." She whined, "You're going to upset Daddy."
I tried to disengage her grip on my wrist and pull away from her.
I said, "You're the one who's upsetting him. I just want to talk to him." She dragged me closer to the door.
My father said, "Leave her alone; let her talk if she wants to."
Ruth reluctantly let me go and I moved closer to my father. She said to him, "You're going to miss your favorite program. She's only going to upset you."
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked me. "Do you want to go down to the den to talk?"
Ruth hollered, "No!" and ran to the other side of the room barring the door that leads to the door to the den. She also said, "You can talk here."
I asked him if he'd went to see Mr. Gaines. He said, "No."
Immediately, Ruth yelled, "Yes you did! He doesn't remember, you just don't remember."
I asked him again if he went to see Gaines. He said, "I guess so." I asked him why he went and he answered something that I couldn't hear because Ruth was talking over his voice. Then I asked it again. But I don't think he could hear me because Ruth was talking loudly over my voice. She was repeating that he had so gone to see Ken and also said that I would get "a lot more than $400,000" (I supposed that she meant that as the value of 1/2 of Oakwood, 1/2 of Port Road, and 1/4 of Willowcrest).
She said, "Ken told me that I was being more than generous with you."
I said, "Does that mean that you signed a will with Gaines as your attorney." She had been telling me before that Gaines was my father's attorney and not hers. She stopped talking. I asked my father, "Did you sign any papers for Gaines and Ruth?" He said, "Yes." Ruth came over to me and began pulling on my wrists and also pushing me toward the door to the hallway. I tried to get loose of her and stay in the room. I asked my father, "What did you sign?" He said that he didn't know what they were.
Ruth said to my father, "You're going to miss your program."
My father said, "Leave her alone. Let her go."
I asked him if I could talk to him alone. He said, yes and told Ruth, "Can't you leave us alone."
Ruth let go of me and slowly left the room. I closed the door and moved toward the bed. My father told me to sit down. I said, "Please don't sign anymore papers unless I'm there."
He said, "Okay, I won't. Why don't you just go along with her deal."
I said that she hadn't offered me a deal and, if what she signed at Gaines' office was a will, then she could change it at any time. I asked him if he thought she was going to let me have anything after he died. I said that the only reason she was saying this was because he was alive and might try to stop her if she said what she was really going to do with his money after he died.
He said, "Can't you try and work something out with her?"
I said that I would try "but you know how she is." I also said that she would continue to try to prevent me from seeing and talking to him. He said that she couldn't do that. I said that he could see what she was doing right now and I asked him if he ever wanted to see me again. I began to cry.
He was crying, too, and said, "Of course I do. I care about you Mary and I want to see you again." We hugged. Then he said that he didn't want to keep me anymore and that I probably had things to do. I said that I didn't have anything else to do and that I wanted to talk to him.
I asked him, "Why are you helping her?"
Just then she came into the room talking loudly, and saying that I had to leave.
He said, "Because she gets me my pills and lets me stay here.
I said, "But I can get you your pills and you can live anywhere that you want to live. You can live with me if you want to."
Just then Ruth grabbed me and started trying to drag me out of the room again.
"Why can't you leave her alone?" my father demanded.
She let go.
I went over to the shelves where there were several flashlights. I said that I needed a flashlight and asked if I could have one.
My father said, "Sure you can," jumping up from the bed. He walked over to stand next to me and examined some of the flashlights turning them on and off. "Can I have a small one?" He gave me a small one.
Ruth said, "Okay, that's enough. It's time to go."
He said, "Goodbye Mary." We hugged, and I said goodbye.
Ruth kept saying things like "okay, that's enough, it's time to go, you've already said goodbye."
I walked out of the room, past Ruth, and to the front door. As I was opening it, she pushed me away from it, and holding onto it, she looked outside. I tried to get out, but she grabbed my wrists again and wouldn't let me go. She said, "I love you, honey."
"You're a liar."
"I never lie. You just think so because your daddy told you that."
"I know myself that you lie about a lot of things. I know that you've always been a liar."
"You only think that because of something Michael told you."
I managed to get free of her claws, saying, "You're a liar."
As I walked down the porch steps and toward the sidewalk, she said, "I never lied. I love you."
November 1986
Near when Ruth and Gaines began claiming that Gaines was my father's attorney--It was the evening after I was informed that Gaines claimed that my father came to see him (October 31, 1986).
6:30 pm
I went to the house on Port Road. Ruth came to the door. I said that I wanted to see my father.
She said, "He's busy. What do you want to talk to him about?"
I said, "I just want to talk to him."
She said, "You're upset, honey, and you're just going to upset him."
I said, "I'm perfectly calm. I just want to talk to him."
She allowed me to push past her into the house. I went to one of the bedrooms. He was in there sitting on the bed. He asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to talk to him. Ruth didn't follow me immediately. She came in after my father and I had said those few words. She began pulling on my wrists, saying, "You have to leave." She whined, "You're going to upset Daddy."
I tried to disengage her grip on my wrist and pull away from her.
I said, "You're the one who's upsetting him. I just want to talk to him." She dragged me closer to the door.
My father said, "Leave her alone; let her talk if she wants to."
Ruth reluctantly let me go and I moved closer to my father. She said to him, "You're going to miss your favorite program. She's only going to upset you."
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked me. "Do you want to go down to the den to talk?"
Ruth hollered, "No!" and ran to the other side of the room barring the door that leads to the door to the den. She also said, "You can talk here."
I asked him if he'd went to see Mr. Gaines. He said, "No."
Immediately, Ruth yelled, "Yes you did! He doesn't remember, you just don't remember."
I asked him again if he went to see Gaines. He said, "I guess so." I asked him why he went and he answered something that I couldn't hear because Ruth was talking over his voice. Then I asked it again. But I don't think he could hear me because Ruth was talking loudly over my voice. She was repeating that he had so gone to see Ken and also said that I would get "a lot more than $400,000" (I supposed that she meant that as the value of 1/2 of Oakwood, 1/2 of Port Road, and 1/4 of Willowcrest).
She said, "Ken told me that I was being more than generous with you."
I said, "Does that mean that you signed a will with Gaines as your attorney." She had been telling me before that Gaines was my father's attorney and not hers. She stopped talking. I asked my father, "Did you sign any papers for Gaines and Ruth?" He said, "Yes." Ruth came over to me and began pulling on my wrists and also pushing me toward the door to the hallway. I tried to get loose of her and stay in the room. I asked my father, "What did you sign?" He said that he didn't know what they were.
Ruth said to my father, "You're going to miss your program."
My father said, "Leave her alone. Let her go."
I asked him if I could talk to him alone. He said, yes and told Ruth, "Can't you leave us alone."
Ruth let go of me and slowly left the room. I closed the door and moved toward the bed. My father told me to sit down. I said, "Please don't sign anymore papers unless I'm there."
He said, "Okay, I won't. Why don't you just go along with her deal."
I said that she hadn't offered me a deal and, if what she signed at Gaines' office was a will, then she could change it at any time. I asked him if he thought she was going to let me have anything after he died. I said that the only reason she was saying this was because he was alive and might try to stop her if she said what she was really going to do with his money after he died.
He said, "Can't you try and work something out with her?"
I said that I would try "but you know how she is." I also said that she would continue to try to prevent me from seeing and talking to him. He said that she couldn't do that. I said that he could see what she was doing right now and I asked him if he ever wanted to see me again. I began to cry.
He was crying, too, and said, "Of course I do. I care about you Mary and I want to see you again." We hugged. Then he said that he didn't want to keep me anymore and that I probably had things to do. I said that I didn't have anything else to do and that I wanted to talk to him.
I asked him, "Why are you helping her?"
Just then she came into the room talking loudly, and saying that I had to leave.
He said, "Because she gets me my pills and lets me stay here.
I said, "But I can get you your pills and you can live anywhere that you want to live. You can live with me if you want to."
Just then Ruth grabbed me and started trying to drag me out of the room again.
"Why can't you leave her alone?" my father demanded.
She let go.
I went over to the shelves where there were several flashlights. I said that I needed a flashlight and asked if I could have one.
My father said, "Sure you can," jumping up from the bed. He walked over to stand next to me and examined some of the flashlights turning them on and off. "Can I have a small one?" He gave me a small one.
Ruth said, "Okay, that's enough. It's time to go."
He said, "Goodbye Mary." We hugged, and I said goodbye.
Ruth kept saying things like "okay, that's enough, it's time to go, you've already said goodbye."
I walked out of the room, past Ruth, and to the front door. As I was opening it, she pushed me away from it, and holding onto it, she looked outside. I tried to get out, but she grabbed my wrists again and wouldn't let me go. She said, "I love you, honey."
"You're a liar."
"I never lie. You just think so because your daddy told you that."
"I know myself that you lie about a lot of things. I know that you've always been a liar."
"You only think that because of something Michael told you."
I managed to get free of her claws, saying, "You're a liar."
As I walked down the porch steps and toward the sidewalk, she said, "I never lied. I love you."
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Call It Fiction 3
Chapter Three
April 12, 1986
Years after reading The Idiot, which is still after reading dozens of books, my one true favorite, I read that Dostoyevski said that child abuse is evil because it destroys a child’s faith in the goodness of God.
September 1986
I had several conversations with Ruth regarding the trust. During one she offered to buy me John's daughter's old car. I said no.
She accused me of stealing money. I explained what the trust was as my attorney had explained it to me. I told her that my father had agreed to it because of her relationship with Joe Mendoza and the poor medical care my father was getting. I told her to talk to an attorney if she didn't believe what I said about the trust.
She said that she trusted Joe (Mendoza) with all of her money and asked me if I trusted him with all of my money. I said no and asked why I should. Her only answer was that she trusted him and that I should, too.
September 8, 1986
approximately 8:00 am
Ruth calls. She says, “Do you want a 1979 Toyota Celica.” I say, “Oh, you mean Jessica’s old car. No, John told me what’s wrong with it.” She says, “There’s nothing wrong . . ..” I interrupt, “The top, it has a soft top, gets broken into easily. I don’t want it.” She asks, “Are you going to Santa Monica today?” “Yes,” I say, “I work there.” “Would you pick up my bible for me . . .?” “Wait,” I say, “where in Santa Monica?” She says, “Well, not really Santa Monica. It’s at church in Culver City.” “No, I can’t.” I say. “It’s out of my way completely, and I have to see John today after work.”
She says, “Oh, good, then you’re going to get it straightened out.” I say, “Yes. Is Daddy all right? Are you leaving him alone?”
“Yes, he’s asleep,” she says. I disbelieve her because he is almost never asleep at this time of the morning. And if he is then something is wrong. “Why are you doing this,” she asks. “I’m not doing anything except carrying out George’s orders. He wanted to do this; he knew what he was doing. He called me Friday and told me that you were ‘pestering’ him and wouldn’t give him ‘a moment’s peace.’ He asked me then to tell you that he wanted to do this and that it was his idea. I didn’t force him. I explained everything very carefully to him and made absolutely certain that he understood everything.”
She says, “I thought you’d tricked him into something. He told me he never even read any of it.” I say, “He signs papers for you all the time without reading them because he trusted you. It’s not unbelievable that he would trust me. And I told him the complete truth about what he was signing. I told him that all of his assets including his half of all of your joint accounts went into the trust, that the trust was in his name, that I was the trustee, which meant that I execute and protect the trust, and that I was signing the trust, too, because in it I promise to make sure that the funds are used to benefit and take care of him for the rest of his life. I told him that I won’t get anything until after he dies and that the trust is the best way of avoiding inheritance taxes. You know John has done that for Jessica and he thinks it’s a good idea.”
“When did he tell you that,” she says.
“Yesterday. I called him yesterday to set up an appointment for today to talk about the details. I explained basically everything and today he's going to look at all the paperwork involved, as you asked him to do.”
“Yes,” she says. “What are you going to do when you've won half of this house and that house over there. I think that we should make a trade so you get one whole one and I get one whole.” “That’s something I didn’t tell you about,” I say. “Daddy already gave me half of this one and half of that one and his interest in Willowcrest.”
“Oh,” she says angrily. “Well, you know that the property taxes will go up, how will you pay for them. They’ll be about $1,500, you know.”
I say, “I think that I can use the income from Willowcrest to cover that.”
She says, “Well, yes, I guess that it’ll be about that. But then you won’t have any left for your doctor and dental bills.”
“I’m not worried about it,” I say.
She says, “I can’t imagine why Daddy would give you the property now.”
“Oh, can’t you? He wanted to give me all of the property, but then there would have been a lot of gift taxes. So he gave me everything he could up to the limit. That was when we were going to his lawyer.”
“Oh yes,” she says. “There were two involved. The name on the trust was Stewart Cary. Daddy said he never heard of him. He went to Jacoby and Meyers.”
“Yes,” I say. “The Jacoby and Meyers lawyer was his. I went to my own to have everything checked and he suggested the possibility of a trust. The Jacoby and Meyers lawyer never even thought of a trust, and Daddy didn’t know anything about trusts, then, and I only knew very little. But after my attorney explained it to me, I explained it all to Daddy. He may not have wanted to read the turst, but he understood what it was.”
"But why would he tell me he didn’t know anything about your going into our checking account?” she says.
I say, “He knew that I was looking for the accounts for the trust; he signed bank drafts, and I told him what they were. That money is in an account for the trust, and I can’t use any of it for my own benefit, only for his benefit."
“I still can’t understand why he would want to do this,” she says.
I say, “To make sure that I was provided for and that he would be taken care of. No one looking at it objectively would think that strange at all.”
She says, “But you are provided for, honey. My will is clear on that.”
“But you can change your will at any time,” I say.
She says, “But I wouldn’t do that.”
“Daddy was convinced by you that you might. He called me up and told me that you might be moving him out of there so Joe could move in.”
She says, “I’d never do that. I’m already married.”
“Well he thought that you were planning to do that.”
Ruth: I don’t know where he got that idea from.
Me: He said that he got it from you. Then you remember about a month ago I went to see you at church and you admitted the same thing to me.
Ruth: I never planned to do it until after Daddy dies.
Me: And what if Joe leaves you, and you become sick or die? How will Daddy manage, he can’t get to the bank, and you haven’t made it possible for me to have access to his money if something happened to you.
Ruth: Joe won’t leave me. He loves me. I trust him with everything. I trust him with my money. Won’t you trust him with yours. You trust him don’t you?
Me: Why shoud I trust him; I don’t even know him.
Ruth: You know why I need that rent from Paul?
Me: No, why?
Ruth: Because I have to pay the liability insurance on the house in case something happens and he sues me.
Me: Nothing’s going to happen and he wouldn’t sue you. I love him, and he loves me, and we trust each other.
Ruth: Can’t he help you out with some money?
Me: Does Joe help you out?
Ruth: Yes, he does things for me, but he doesn’t have much money. He has to pay alimony, and he went bankrupt a few years ago and has to pay income tax.
Me: Well, Paul does things for me and helps me.
September 22, 1986
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
I spoke with Sam Chean about the trust and taxes.
April 12, 1986
Years after reading The Idiot, which is still after reading dozens of books, my one true favorite, I read that Dostoyevski said that child abuse is evil because it destroys a child’s faith in the goodness of God.
September 1986
I had several conversations with Ruth regarding the trust. During one she offered to buy me John's daughter's old car. I said no.
She accused me of stealing money. I explained what the trust was as my attorney had explained it to me. I told her that my father had agreed to it because of her relationship with Joe Mendoza and the poor medical care my father was getting. I told her to talk to an attorney if she didn't believe what I said about the trust.
She said that she trusted Joe (Mendoza) with all of her money and asked me if I trusted him with all of my money. I said no and asked why I should. Her only answer was that she trusted him and that I should, too.
September 8, 1986
approximately 8:00 am
Ruth calls. She says, “Do you want a 1979 Toyota Celica.” I say, “Oh, you mean Jessica’s old car. No, John told me what’s wrong with it.” She says, “There’s nothing wrong . . ..” I interrupt, “The top, it has a soft top, gets broken into easily. I don’t want it.” She asks, “Are you going to Santa Monica today?” “Yes,” I say, “I work there.” “Would you pick up my bible for me . . .?” “Wait,” I say, “where in Santa Monica?” She says, “Well, not really Santa Monica. It’s at church in Culver City.” “No, I can’t.” I say. “It’s out of my way completely, and I have to see John today after work.”
She says, “Oh, good, then you’re going to get it straightened out.” I say, “Yes. Is Daddy all right? Are you leaving him alone?”
“Yes, he’s asleep,” she says. I disbelieve her because he is almost never asleep at this time of the morning. And if he is then something is wrong. “Why are you doing this,” she asks. “I’m not doing anything except carrying out George’s orders. He wanted to do this; he knew what he was doing. He called me Friday and told me that you were ‘pestering’ him and wouldn’t give him ‘a moment’s peace.’ He asked me then to tell you that he wanted to do this and that it was his idea. I didn’t force him. I explained everything very carefully to him and made absolutely certain that he understood everything.”
She says, “I thought you’d tricked him into something. He told me he never even read any of it.” I say, “He signs papers for you all the time without reading them because he trusted you. It’s not unbelievable that he would trust me. And I told him the complete truth about what he was signing. I told him that all of his assets including his half of all of your joint accounts went into the trust, that the trust was in his name, that I was the trustee, which meant that I execute and protect the trust, and that I was signing the trust, too, because in it I promise to make sure that the funds are used to benefit and take care of him for the rest of his life. I told him that I won’t get anything until after he dies and that the trust is the best way of avoiding inheritance taxes. You know John has done that for Jessica and he thinks it’s a good idea.”
“When did he tell you that,” she says.
“Yesterday. I called him yesterday to set up an appointment for today to talk about the details. I explained basically everything and today he's going to look at all the paperwork involved, as you asked him to do.”
“Yes,” she says. “What are you going to do when you've won half of this house and that house over there. I think that we should make a trade so you get one whole one and I get one whole.” “That’s something I didn’t tell you about,” I say. “Daddy already gave me half of this one and half of that one and his interest in Willowcrest.”
“Oh,” she says angrily. “Well, you know that the property taxes will go up, how will you pay for them. They’ll be about $1,500, you know.”
I say, “I think that I can use the income from Willowcrest to cover that.”
She says, “Well, yes, I guess that it’ll be about that. But then you won’t have any left for your doctor and dental bills.”
“I’m not worried about it,” I say.
She says, “I can’t imagine why Daddy would give you the property now.”
“Oh, can’t you? He wanted to give me all of the property, but then there would have been a lot of gift taxes. So he gave me everything he could up to the limit. That was when we were going to his lawyer.”
“Oh yes,” she says. “There were two involved. The name on the trust was Stewart Cary. Daddy said he never heard of him. He went to Jacoby and Meyers.”
“Yes,” I say. “The Jacoby and Meyers lawyer was his. I went to my own to have everything checked and he suggested the possibility of a trust. The Jacoby and Meyers lawyer never even thought of a trust, and Daddy didn’t know anything about trusts, then, and I only knew very little. But after my attorney explained it to me, I explained it all to Daddy. He may not have wanted to read the turst, but he understood what it was.”
"But why would he tell me he didn’t know anything about your going into our checking account?” she says.
I say, “He knew that I was looking for the accounts for the trust; he signed bank drafts, and I told him what they were. That money is in an account for the trust, and I can’t use any of it for my own benefit, only for his benefit."
“I still can’t understand why he would want to do this,” she says.
I say, “To make sure that I was provided for and that he would be taken care of. No one looking at it objectively would think that strange at all.”
She says, “But you are provided for, honey. My will is clear on that.”
“But you can change your will at any time,” I say.
She says, “But I wouldn’t do that.”
“Daddy was convinced by you that you might. He called me up and told me that you might be moving him out of there so Joe could move in.”
She says, “I’d never do that. I’m already married.”
“Well he thought that you were planning to do that.”
Ruth: I don’t know where he got that idea from.
Me: He said that he got it from you. Then you remember about a month ago I went to see you at church and you admitted the same thing to me.
Ruth: I never planned to do it until after Daddy dies.
Me: And what if Joe leaves you, and you become sick or die? How will Daddy manage, he can’t get to the bank, and you haven’t made it possible for me to have access to his money if something happened to you.
Ruth: Joe won’t leave me. He loves me. I trust him with everything. I trust him with my money. Won’t you trust him with yours. You trust him don’t you?
Me: Why shoud I trust him; I don’t even know him.
Ruth: You know why I need that rent from Paul?
Me: No, why?
Ruth: Because I have to pay the liability insurance on the house in case something happens and he sues me.
Me: Nothing’s going to happen and he wouldn’t sue you. I love him, and he loves me, and we trust each other.
Ruth: Can’t he help you out with some money?
Me: Does Joe help you out?
Ruth: Yes, he does things for me, but he doesn’t have much money. He has to pay alimony, and he went bankrupt a few years ago and has to pay income tax.
Me: Well, Paul does things for me and helps me.
September 22, 1986
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
I spoke with Sam Chean about the trust and taxes.
Backup your work frequently
Something Neal wrote lead me to do exactly what you describe below, so it wasn't tedious at all.
I've likely done this before, and I needed just a few words to point me in the right direction. It's been incredibly frustrating to loose my computer and some months of my life's work.
When I look at computer screens that are different than they were before, I just can't seem to see what is right in front of me. Kind of like when you are looking for something and can't find it, and you ask someone else to look for you, and they find it right in front of you.
--Christina
I've likely done this before, and I needed just a few words to point me in the right direction. It's been incredibly frustrating to loose my computer and some months of my life's work.
When I look at computer screens that are different than they were before, I just can't seem to see what is right in front of me. Kind of like when you are looking for something and can't find it, and you ask someone else to look for you, and they find it right in front of you.
--Christina
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Call It Fiction 2
Chapter Two
March 17, 1998
Mary,
We have come to a final parting because I can no longer help you. My total commitment to and love of God separates the two of us. You cannot understand the tremendous power of prayer that has helped me through all of my difficulties and financial problems. Christina was born in County General Hospital (I had no money) and I almost died there because no one noticed how sick I was. When I finally tried to get out of bed (because it was time to leave the hospital), I collapsed. You can’t believe the attention I received then! For more than a year I was very sick, but I never gave up. The Gas Company didn’t want to hire me because I was so anemic. They turned me down, but I kept praying. The next day I went back anyway, and the same person who had refused me said I was hired but on probation because of my anemia. (All I needed was money for food and iron tablets.) Prayer helped me time and time again. I lived in 1-room apts, gave money for Christina every month, and save $30,000 in less than 8 years. I continued to work and to pray. Always I put God first and always He took care of me. This is why I say I am not your source of help. If God is my help and I help you—then God becomes your source. But as long as you don’t recognize God and send prayers of praise and thanksgiving to Him, then he can’t help you even through me.
I truly wish you well now that you are on your own.
Your Mother.
March 17, 1998
Mary,
We have come to a final parting because I can no longer help you. My total commitment to and love of God separates the two of us. You cannot understand the tremendous power of prayer that has helped me through all of my difficulties and financial problems. Christina was born in County General Hospital (I had no money) and I almost died there because no one noticed how sick I was. When I finally tried to get out of bed (because it was time to leave the hospital), I collapsed. You can’t believe the attention I received then! For more than a year I was very sick, but I never gave up. The Gas Company didn’t want to hire me because I was so anemic. They turned me down, but I kept praying. The next day I went back anyway, and the same person who had refused me said I was hired but on probation because of my anemia. (All I needed was money for food and iron tablets.) Prayer helped me time and time again. I lived in 1-room apts, gave money for Christina every month, and save $30,000 in less than 8 years. I continued to work and to pray. Always I put God first and always He took care of me. This is why I say I am not your source of help. If God is my help and I help you—then God becomes your source. But as long as you don’t recognize God and send prayers of praise and thanksgiving to Him, then he can’t help you even through me.
I truly wish you well now that you are on your own.
Your Mother.
Call It Fiction 1
Chapter One
Unnatural Causes
It was done. Ruth clasped her hands together in her lap. The Lord be with thee. May He also be with thee.
She sat in the courtroom, a beautific smile frozen to her pasty face. She turned to a young woman sitting nearby with a small child sitting in her lap.
“What a precious child you have,” Ruth said. “How old is she?”
The young woman answered moving a bit away form the woman wearing sunglasses.
Ruth said, “I have a daughter, too. She’s going to UCLA.”
The young woman relaxed the tension in her arms and legs. “Oh, how old is your daughter?”
“She’s twenty-two.”
The young woman with the child said, “You must be very proud of her.”
“Yes, yes,” Ruth said automatically and absently. She took a rosary from her purse and began to rub it, looking straight ahead, smiling as she did before, and paying no more attention to the woman with the child.
It was done for the glory of God. Praise Him. The money would go to Him when she died. Maybe some to Carl if he was a good boy. When she got home what would she do? She would be surprised. But, after all, it wasn’t a total surprise. He had been despondent . . .. She would act perfectly natural. If Michael thought he could disobey her, he had another think coming. But she made sure that Carl had taken care of him. She vaguely realized that Kenny, her attorney, had come back to her after speaking to the judge, such a nice looking man who would surely find everything in her favor, but now even that didn’t matter, she had outwitted them all.
“This is only a preliminary hearing, Ruth,” she heard Kenny saying to her. “We’ll have no problem getting a conservatorship.”
“Then I’ll control everything,” Ruth said, as if she didn’t already.
“You’ll control both your and your husband’s estate.”
“Good. I’m so worried about poor Michael. It’s for his own good.”
“Yes, of course it is,” her attorney said.
Carl was standing against the wall waiting for her to come out. He had panic written all over his taught face. It was a good thing that she was going to marry him. She’d make sure he wouldn’t get out of control or let anything slip. Kenny was talking to her, but she tuned him out. She was thinking again of what she had to do when she got home.
When they reached the place near where Carl was standing in the hall, they paused and he continued walking behind them, submissively, without a word.
She heard Kenny droning on. She thought, I’ll be surprised, I’ll call the police, I’ll be sad, I’ll say that Michael had been very depressed lately and often said that life wasn’t worth living—the truth, all the truth. Praise God. Glory be to God
Unnatural Causes
It was done. Ruth clasped her hands together in her lap. The Lord be with thee. May He also be with thee.
She sat in the courtroom, a beautific smile frozen to her pasty face. She turned to a young woman sitting nearby with a small child sitting in her lap.
“What a precious child you have,” Ruth said. “How old is she?”
The young woman answered moving a bit away form the woman wearing sunglasses.
Ruth said, “I have a daughter, too. She’s going to UCLA.”
The young woman relaxed the tension in her arms and legs. “Oh, how old is your daughter?”
“She’s twenty-two.”
The young woman with the child said, “You must be very proud of her.”
“Yes, yes,” Ruth said automatically and absently. She took a rosary from her purse and began to rub it, looking straight ahead, smiling as she did before, and paying no more attention to the woman with the child.
It was done for the glory of God. Praise Him. The money would go to Him when she died. Maybe some to Carl if he was a good boy. When she got home what would she do? She would be surprised. But, after all, it wasn’t a total surprise. He had been despondent . . .. She would act perfectly natural. If Michael thought he could disobey her, he had another think coming. But she made sure that Carl had taken care of him. She vaguely realized that Kenny, her attorney, had come back to her after speaking to the judge, such a nice looking man who would surely find everything in her favor, but now even that didn’t matter, she had outwitted them all.
“This is only a preliminary hearing, Ruth,” she heard Kenny saying to her. “We’ll have no problem getting a conservatorship.”
“Then I’ll control everything,” Ruth said, as if she didn’t already.
“You’ll control both your and your husband’s estate.”
“Good. I’m so worried about poor Michael. It’s for his own good.”
“Yes, of course it is,” her attorney said.
Carl was standing against the wall waiting for her to come out. He had panic written all over his taught face. It was a good thing that she was going to marry him. She’d make sure he wouldn’t get out of control or let anything slip. Kenny was talking to her, but she tuned him out. She was thinking again of what she had to do when she got home.
When they reached the place near where Carl was standing in the hall, they paused and he continued walking behind them, submissively, without a word.
She heard Kenny droning on. She thought, I’ll be surprised, I’ll call the police, I’ll be sad, I’ll say that Michael had been very depressed lately and often said that life wasn’t worth living—the truth, all the truth. Praise God. Glory be to God
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)