Dear Annie: I feel you overlooked an important point in your response to “Inheritance Issues,” which has been an occasional topic in your column.
Elder financial abuse is all too common. If the mother can’t make bill payments without help, the implication is that the brother prepared, or had a lawyer prepare, the paperwork to transfer the beach property to himself. Was the mother acting as a well-informed and independent agent in this transaction?
The mother’s excuses could be hiding a very real struggle with declining abilities. The other two siblings might be well advised to be less judgmental of their mother, converse with each other about their mother’s state of health and, if possible, talk with her doctor. If her abilities are declining, she will need their understanding and possibly legal protection.
Dear Inheritance Issues: Thank you for your letter and commonsense suggestions.
Dear Annie: I love your column and read it every day.
I am a firm believer in positive vibes.
I believe in waking up every day in gratitude.
I believe in helping others.
I believe that we all have a purpose.
Thank you for living your purpose.
Your purpose is helping others by giving your positive advice to those in need.
Have a great day.
-- Positive Vibes
Dear Positive: Thank you for your letter. It made me smile.
Dear Readers: Below are some poems to help you enjoy the beginnings of the summer months.
“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats
“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, / And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; / Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, / And live alone in the bee-loud glade. / And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, / Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; / There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, / And evening full of the linnet’s wings. / I will arise and go now, for always night and day / I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; / While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, / I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”
“Fireflies in the Garden” by Robert Frost
“Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, / And here on earth come emulating flies, / That though they never equal stars in size, / (And they were never really stars at heart) / Achieve at times a very star-like start. / Only, of course, they can’t sustain the part.”