I am entering a time when I want to clean my house and tend my
garden (literally and figuratively), gather my family in healing hugs, and
begin the preparation and reflection that is the Lenten season. As Easter approaches, so does the birth of our newest grandchild, another reason for "getting ready."
I rely on strength
beyond myself. Grace! I want to be sure I have things recorded and in
order. I have a project started that I call
Answers - answers to all the questions that can come when illness or loss occur. I am reminded that even though Mother died in 2006, her
development of Alzheimer's took her sharp mind away beginning around 6 years
earlier. It was her record keeping long before that which became so
important recently.
Mother had never taken care of bills and bank accounts, etc. when
Daddy died in 1982. During the next 15 years she did a marvelous job of
doing just that and kept meticulous records. She would have been
horrified to discover what happened with a property tax delinquency. I
believed at the beginning that this was another lash of the Alzheimer Dragon's
tail, and indeed, the difficulty uncovering records for the 2 years just prior
to my moving her and beginning to handle everything was affected by that.
But her previous record keeping was in the end what helped me answer the
questions I needed to satisfy my curiosity before paying up. Many times
she had spoken to me about a tiny amount of royalty interest, and the lease records are in those old files. The bottom line was a result of a
combination of things.
1) She sold her little house in 1998, distributed the income from
that to my sister and me, filing a forwarding address.
2) Because royalty property tax is only assessed when production/income is a significant enough
amount to warrant a statement, apparently she did not receive any tax bill, so
no tax payments in 1998 and 1999. By then, the forwarding address order
would have expired.
3) In 2000-2001, the first years of said
delinquency, the tax office said they did not have any returned mail. My
only guess is that the people who were then at that address just pitched the
bills thinking it was "old" and not necessary to return.
4) In
2002, I moved her here and she became a resident of another county where she
died.
5) Since I had never paid that kind of tax for her, I wasn't aware
I should be paying it! I do think my attorney was remiss in failing to
get her death filed in Smith County as well as Fort Bend. If he did that,
they would have had a traceable address for the last 6 years. So the last 6
years of delinquency were indeed mine!
Aging gracefully and dying well are important for us to consider
thoughtfully and deliberately as we continue to care each other. God's good gifts of daily bread continue to
be our source of strength and energy.
Bad Day
the loud knock at the door was not my neighbor
a uniform, herald of gravitas
papers extended, not a handshake
do you know this person?
I dread to look,
astonished, say yes
my mother, I say
this was her last address
what can you want?
she died 6 years ago
can I help you?
yes, that's me, her daughter
Tax delinquency?
Impossible. I paid her bills.
12 years ago?
Interest? Penalties? Fees?
This one day I am glad she isn't here.
