the sisters guilted me to death........i lived 17 hours away and one time i drove the entire trip with a smashed tail bone........why? cause i was an idiot. and i cut the tree, decorated it, cooked the Christmas meal and then made a comment about a black basketball player that put the entire bunch into shock..(bigots, they are)......and i still relish the moment.

i would close the b and b for a month and come back to Oklahoma and lose that business and stay there for 24/7 for a month.

and when my mom died....the scene around the dining room table was sickening. my sisters had been so frugal with her money and they were so proud of how much they had left to divide amongst us.and i inherited daddy's tractor and my brother stole it from my barn. how do you come out of something like that with ANY good feelings?

more than once i drove all the way from NM to find completely empty cupboards..........so the stress of dealing with the others was harder on me than helping my mom out. all of our differences melted away, eventually, and she was very grateful that i moved in and she had complete meals, loud bluegrass music and dogs!!!!!

larry, you know how i feel about you and i know how hard it is for you now... you have so much moral fiber and strength...i admire you so much for what you do for your family and all of us... and me........we'll help you get through this. that's why we're all a part of this thread. we share and we care. love, pat