What a relief. . . .

Without going into too many details, I just wanted to share what a relief it is to know that in 29 days, my family land (that was owned by my great grandmother) will be rightfully owned by my family once again. My uncle (stupidly) did not have a will, and had to have his wife's name put on the deed due to some unfortunate financial situations. When he passed away (suddenly), our family land (156 acres that surrounds my parents house as well as the home my mom and her siblings were born in) was passed on to his wife. When she died last year, instead of returning it to our family, she left it to her family (which, for the most part, is a disfunctional, greedy and completely self-centered bunch of people). They couldn't agree what to do with it (sell it, keep it or return it to my family), and turned down an offer from my parents to purchase it. In the end, my grandmother's house and all of the land that my mom grew up on, was painfully put up for public auction yesterday.

I can't begin to tell you what a horrible site it was to see people drooling over how much money they could make on something that never should have been there's; my uncle, in no way, ever, EVER intended it to be left to his wife's family. He simply made a really stupid mistake that cost everyone a lot of pain, time, trouble and end the end, a great deal of money.

But, when all was said and done, no local bidder bid against my mom because 1) they recongnized that it belonged in my mother's possession, 2) although it was a large lot of land, only 42 acres is cleared and usuable (the rest of swamp), and 3) the price was too high. Thanks to that greedy lot of people that it belonged to, they had someone run up the bid via absentee bid. My mother ended up paying much more than the land is truly worth, but she knows that her grandmother, father and brother are smiling down from Heaven, knowing that the land that they all worked so hard for and so hard on is back where it belongs.

It is painful to know that such sorry people will be getting so much of my parents' money. But, as my mother says, "you can't take it with you when you go." And, now, my sister and I will always have control over that land, which will be so lovingly passed down to us.

It's been a tough week for my mom, but her soul is happy.