Well, that would be a short period of reflection

All tolled, I spent maybe 2 hours with Darling Wife's grandmother. By DW's accounting, she'd only seen her ~ 18 - 20 times over her lifetime. Her influence was felt (and is clearly still being felt last night/today) in the form of The Vortex.

The Vortex is what the daughters of Grandmommy (Ma, Aunt Lucy, and Aunt Nancy) and their respective offspring came to call the emotional and mental.... issues, shall we say..... that Grandmommy imposed upon all who came into her world.

Grandmommy spawned four intensely brilliant kids (aforementioned daughters plus one son). Two of 'em sufficiently broken (Ma and Aunt Nancy) that their worlds would NEVER be mistaken for "normal." Ma's two kids (Darling Wife and Twin Brother) are similarly brilliant, and thankfully not significantly broken. Aunt Nancy's two kids are clearly bright, but clearly way more broken than Ma's pair.

Aunt Nancy works - she teaches grad level courses at a prestigious university - is happily married, has a handful of very successful kids, etc. But she acknowledges that The Vortex has scarred her, and she consciously does battle with the emotional demons it created (and that she passed parts of it onto her kids).

Uncle Paul, we don't know much of anything about except that he blew everyone away in college. He hauled arse decades ago, and pretty much keeps to himself.

To round out Grandmommy's modus operandi: Darling Wife, her aunt, and her cousins came to a realization last night as plans started taking shape: nobody remembers Grandmommy EVER having a single friend. Ever.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

Lest I leave the impression that Grandmommy was entirely whack.....

• She graduated from college - at a time when women simply didn't go to college and after her priest told her that it was against the teachings of the church for her to do so.
  
• She took (and did well at) archery in college.
  
• She spoke French, fluently.
  
• She sang opera, at times professionally.
  
• She used to sneak into the black jazz clubs in Baltimore to feed her passion for music.
  
• She READ. Tons. Said the Peabody Library was her vision of heaven. Passed her intense passion for reading and learning on to every one of her offspring and their offspring.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

Our thoughts and condolences are with you, J & M! While it would appear that the relationship was far from perfect, it's never easy to lose a family member. And somehow I suspect a good deal of the arrangements will fall into your DW's lap.

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Sounds like there are some good things to be said after all.
Just be careful or you'll end up giving the eulogy....

Condolences to your DW (marvelous picture!)
Hope everything works out well, with a minimum of drama.

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

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