Personal Event - not racing related

Posted because I conside most of you friends. 8)

As many of you know, my family has taken a heckuva beating this past year or so. The financial aftermath and subsequent mess my folks had their estate is was an enormous headache.

I have truly been blessed with a wonderful wife. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have made it.

I think I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, though. We close on a home for my mom tomorrow.

It needs a LOT of work, but my youngest daughter, Damnation, will be doing a large chunk of the cleaning and painting. She will also live in the house till my mom is able to leave the nursing home.

Closure of this chapter comes at a good time for us. It gives a sense of accomplishment and even a little hope. You see, I hate having people I love falling prey to the vultures that make up bureaucracy. My view of our government and those who run it has soured significantly.

But it appears we have finally gotten rid of the scavengers and cling-ons. It will be nice to do some physical work so that some appearance of accomplishment can be witnessed. I look forward to a little "sweat equity".

The whole point of this rant is simple ...

This holiday season, cherish the moments you have with loved ones. In my case, my family has all been taken away in just a few months. I truly understand the meaning of "you never know how much time you have left." Use your time wisely.

The greatest gift you can give your children, is solid and thought out post life planning. Trust me ... the last thing you want your kids to go through is making hard, hard decisions in an accelerated time table and during a very emotional time.

Likewise, the gretest gift you can recieve is getting the same thing from your folks.

When we're young, in our 30s and 40s, we still view our folks as supermen and even kryptonite can't bring them down. Right now is the time to start thinking and acting. Putting it off or ignoring it is easy. Having it unexpectedly dumped in your lap is worse.

While it appears to be a morbid and somber post, it really isn't. I am celebrating the time I have with my mom and my kids. I do not take the precious time the good Lord has given me lightly any longer. Everything is secondary to that.

Happy holidays everyone and be safe out there.

Mitch,

I am glad you are emerging on the other side.

I have seen that before with families who havent done pre planning.

At the very least, everyone needs

1. Will
2. Advanced Medical Directive, living will

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_will

You owe it to your family and your family owes it to you.


Merry Christmas.

It has taken a year to untangle the mess.

And it's not like my folks had very many assets. Just a house, 2 cars and about 20K in cash.

I can only imagine the mess if they had stocks, retirement income, investment property ....

Great Post.....and glad to hear your spirits lifted a bit.

Merry Christmas!!

Mitch, glad to hear you are getting through the funk. Thanks for the suggestive info and the underlying statement of appreciate what you have and make sure you are ready for the future.


That being said, I would say any one of us could be a victim of what I am currently going through. I only suggest that you all do some research into divorce law in the state of Texas to help protect yourselves in any way you can prior. I hope and admire that most of you have VERY supportive spouses that stand behind you 100% with our shared addiction. I can only say that I thought I had that too and it was all a lie. I only wish I had seen it earlier or realized that my fairy tale marriage that I adored and was admired by friends, was about to vaporize in a blink of an eye. I was completely unprepared.

All I can faithfully say without being too negative is that ANYTHING you don't want her to get her hands on whether it be money, cars, documents or even your socks......LOCK THEM UP so they can't be taken.

Beyond that, everyone have a wonderful holidays....see you in April.

Amen brother Mitch!!!

Definitely cherish the time you have with loved ones!! I wish I could have my mom back to spend more time with her as I should have when she was alive. Tough lesson learned and hope the message gets through to those that see it.


Look forward to seeing you again on-track.

I appreciate the sentiments folks ... thanks.

Matt ...

I can empathize. I can even understand to a degree your bitterness. Only advice I could share would be "One bad apple ..."

In hind sight, there was no indication that this was coming?

Great post, Mitch, and very timely.
I need those reminders to get my affairs in order.
I'll also remember your thoughts when I'm with my parents again for a week....and with my own family for 1000 miles in the car next week singing show tunes!

Another thing I'll add to Mitch's and Matt's advice....don't ever turn your back on this great group of racers. Engines come and go...Cars come and go....women come and go...but AI/CMC racers will always be there and I've always considered everyone here and there as my second family.

Looking back over the years, it seems as though the only friends I ever stayed in touch with were my car/racing buddies. We've all got the same fuel in our veins.

-=- T

Quote:

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We've all got the same fuel in our veins.

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At the end of the day, that is why I think a lot of us go farther out of our way to help each other than you'll see in normal human circles.

Mitch...nice post, glad to hear you having such a positive message out of such difficult events.