Over the river and through the woods, Tin’s Aunt had come down to see him before he passed and to help his mother handle a mother’s worst nightmare losing a child. She watched him grow, watched him thrive and now held him as he faded away. I can’t imagine and it seems unholy although if Jesus’ mother had to go through it than who am I to judge the workings of the Universe. Either way, it hurt to be losing him and it hurt to watch her lose him.
Aunt Caryl. I had heard wonderful things and Tin was so excited she would finally come down and meet me. We had been together for 4 years and I looked forward to meeting her. After a long day at work, I picked up my mother at my apartment and we went to meet the visiting family. Tin had a procedure that day. I still feel guilty that I had to work and I couldn’t go with him. When we got to the house I said hello and then checked on Tin and his new medical directions. While reading, Caryl stated that she was in town and that she was with him all day today and that she was handling his medications now. I was torn. Up until now I had made sure his medications were correct. Her tone implied that I lost my rank because she was family and I had to work. On the other hand I felt relieved that I could spend time with him and let someone else deal with the chemistry. Seeing that she wanted to come in and take over, I let it go. Shortly after she felt Tin needed pain meds without him asking. I thought that was strange and I said he tended to not like them because he felt too tired. She scoffed at me and started pulling pills that were not the pills he was supposed to get. I got up and stepped in reading his new doctor’s orders and pointed out that his new medical directions had adjusted and stopped some of the meds she was getting. Her response in front of everyone was that I asked ridiculous questions and that she was there now to handle it. In one statement she dismissed everything I had done as well as the importance of our relationship. I was just the partner. She had no idea she had opened a door I boarded tightly shut. I unleashed 10 months of anger pointing out that she did not get to sweep in for the final hour and claim heroism. She put her hand in my face and told me to go home. My mother started crying and said she couldn’t stay and so we left.
Tin called me shortly after and I was still crying and heart broken. Caryl had taken away what little time I could have with him. I told Tin how sad it was to care for him this whole time, to know I would lose him and how horrible it was to be dismissed. I told him that his favorite Aunt couldn’t possibly care if she treated me that way.
I found out later that Tin had cried for hours after our phone call. At times I feel guilt, at times I feel sad and at times I feel incredible rage at Caryl’s selfishness. Tin said something to her because from the next day on Caryl was disgustingly sweet to me. I left it at that and after he passed she carried on with her life. A drive to see her family, a back injury along the drive home and forced to call her estranged brother to come get her in Atlanta from Chicago.
Flash forward to this week. Clayton’s mom had suffered a stroke shortly after he passed and can no longer live without assistance. His family moved her up to Chicago to be closer. Tin’s cousin is the power of attorney and Caryl had asked for Tin’s mom to give her $3,000 to cover her medical bills. Why? Caryl claims that her back issue was because she drove down to see Tin so she was hoping for compensation because of her kind heart. Yeah, you read that right and you should feel as disgusted as I am. Well it gets even better than that my friends. In my last blog I spoke about the inheritance that I was told I am getting. Caryl had found out about it. She decided to call me at 7am on my day off because she happened to go visit Tin’s mother. I saw her name and went back to sleep. When I woke up I forced myself to listen to the message. Caryl so kindly told me that Tin’s mom was doing well and that she was getting her own cell phone and would love to hear from me. (Mind you I speak to Tin’s cousin a few times a week and I am up to date on his mom but work and timing are sometimes off). Well dear Caryl forgot to actually hang up. She didn’t realize that for the next 2 minutes I heard her mumble to Tin’s mom “No need to care now.” She was badmouthing me to Tin’s mom, conveniently after she had found out about my inheritance. Needless to say she called Tin’s cousin and asked for more money after that. His cousin didn’t answer…I’m just glad that Tin wasn’t witness when the wolf in family clothing had been exposed…