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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

He is gone

156 replies

dramajustfollowsme · 21/02/2014 22:59

I am just home having sat with my wonderful, wonderful grandad as he peacefully slipped away. He was my last surviving older relative and thoroughly terrific person in every way. My Facebook is filled with people, young and old telling me how wonderful he was. He was a total inspiration and the kindest, most positive person. I feel very privileged to be able to call him mine.
I now have to organise yet another funeral with my dsis. I'm not sure how I will ever manage to explain to my dd or my unborn child how fantastic their great grandfather was. He was a brave war veteran, amazing drummer, terrible joke- teller, biscuit eating, loving man and I miss him already.
He had a fabulous life, which I am truly grateful for but will leave a gaping hole in my heart.
I hope there is a heaven and that my mum, aunt and grandma were waiting for him with a cup of tea and a penguin biscuit.

OP posts:
ScarletWomanoftheVillage · 05/03/2014 18:37

Oh Drama so sorry to hear this. They are disgusting, the pair of them Sad Angry

Allalonenow · 05/03/2014 18:47

Oh drama what despicable treatment of your lovely Granda, it beggars belief really.

I hope your solicitor can salvage something for you, but it doesn't look very promising as they will just say it was agreed.

You will know not to ever trust them or help them again, what a dreadful blow for you.

dramajustfollowsme · 05/03/2014 19:02

I checked his current account every month. There was the odd big amount that I'd query but it would get talked away.
I never dreamt that they would touch his savings. I know she is terrible with money but this has to have been premeditated to cover themselves and hide from me.
Aunt just kept saying sorry and looking like a kid in trouble. I don't think she has any clue of what she or he has done. Sad
She was also miffed that his pension stopped straight away. Confused

OP posts:
Allalonenow · 05/03/2014 19:13

Well for some one who knows nothing about money, she has been astute enough to arrange a new secret account and to siphon all your Granda's savings into it, so clearly not as clueless as she would have everyone believe.

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 05/03/2014 19:32

Sad Sorry drama this really takes the biscuit.

HollyBrrr · 05/03/2014 19:42

Drama as someone who is also looking after an elderly granddad at the moment and trying to stop the vultures from circling - did your aunt/cousins get him to write down that they had his permission to spend that money? Because if not I'm fairly sure they could be prosecuted for fraud/theft or somesuch. No doubt someone with actual legal experience would be able to confirm this but this is what my understanding has been in my granddad's case...

Purpleknickers · 05/03/2014 19:44

Oh drama I am so very sad to read this, I have no words of wisdom but oh my word Sad

Jux · 05/03/2014 20:45

Oh drama, how dreadful. It reeks of fraud. I'm so sorry.

MissScatterbrain · 05/03/2014 20:48

Oh dear - please do go to the police and report everything including the assault.

Otherwise they will go and con other people...

saffronwblue · 05/03/2014 21:44

Oh drama. What a betrayal of your Grandad. I think it is time to bring in full force of law. I'm so sorry you have this on top of everything else. Think your new lo might need a name like Honor, Constance or Faith. x

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 06/03/2014 09:01

Fraud, theft, embezzlement? I don't know but what a shameful pair. Sorry you have had to face this on top of your sad loss. I'm afraid Allalonenow has hit the nail on the head, your auntie can't be as much an airhead as she makes out.

Jux · 06/03/2014 10:26

Drama, did anyone have POA? The rules governing POA are pretty strict. Your sol will know.

I think you must report it, even though you may not want to and you are already overloaded with difficulties, but if you let it slide then you may be opening yourself up to accusations of collusion.

Were the documents about this the ones in your aunt's bag? If so, then it looks like she knew and understood.

dramajustfollowsme · 06/03/2014 11:22

After speaking to sol, I'm away with everything to the police station. My poor grandparents built up a nice nest egg over 60years, putting a little bit away every month.
It has been frittered away in 2.5 years. My mum passed away 2.6 years ago. Is that a coincidence. AngrySad

OP posts:
lazarusb · 06/03/2014 12:23

Hope all goes well at the police station. I'm sure your sol wouldn't have advised it if he thought you didn't have clear legal grounds. This is an abhorrent betrayal of an elderly gentleman, not to mention the rest of your family. I know your aunt may have her issues but she has actively colluded in this, not only moving and taking money, but hiding it too. I am so sorry.

Jux · 06/03/2014 15:23

Hope it goes as well as it can at the police station. My heart is with you. Devastating.

Holding your hand virtually.Thanks

MrsCosmopilite · 06/03/2014 17:37

Sorry, yet again nothing to add other than to completely agree with Donkeys, Jux and Laz.

Here for hand-holding, shoulder-crying and absolute moral support.

dramajustfollowsme · 06/03/2014 23:25

I head was reeling with everything yesterday. The amount of savings that had vanished, the second account.
I never noticed one important fact. A lot of money went out in the time he was in hospital and even more after he died. Sad
The police are looking at it very seriously.
Idiot cousin says I am killing his mum by pursuing this.
How am I supposed to work with these people to clear his belongings.
Dsis and I had been willing to negotiate that if we took the photo albums of gran and granda's childhoods, they could take the medals. Dsis says they have taken enough and doesn't want them to have anything special as they have lost that right by stealing. I have no clue where to go from here.
We really can't afford to keep the flat until everything is done and dusted. It could take ages.

OP posts:
Jux · 06/03/2014 23:43

You poor love, Drama.

It is the ultimate betrayal, so steal from someone when they are old and sick - and in hospital to boot - and to then continue to do after their death. I am glad the police are treating it seriously. It is serious. Presumably, if your aunt inherits anything then the money can be repaid by taking it off her share.

I think the solicitor can force them/her to leave the house, which will help for clearing it. I don't suppose you have a list of everything in it, so you can ensure it doesn't get cleared out before you can do it?

Cut your cousin off completely, go no contact. I agree with your dsis, they have had more than enough already.

I hope you get some rest tonight. I think you would find it helpful if you could take some compassionate leave. Is there a chance of that?

Thinking of you.

MrsCakesPremonition · 06/03/2014 23:54

Take photos of things like medals, special bits of furniture etc. and maybe start thinking about compiling a memory book about your grandad with as much as you and DSis can recall or research. It might help you and it will give you something to talk about with your DCs.

I'm so sorry that you are having to cope with this betrayal while you are still reeling from your loss. Your Grandad sounds like a very special man.

dramajustfollowsme · 07/03/2014 00:46

Thanks everyone.
No chance of leave. Unless I get signed off by the doctors. School are being awful. I'm in tomorrow. I will just shut my door and ignore the adults. The kids are fab actually.
Dh wants me to go to the doctors as, unsurprisingly, I feel very low and can't sleep properly.
I keep thinking, I should have prevented this and have let everyone down.
The stuff going on about school makes me feel like I am crap at my job.
Dd regressing with lots of wet pants, continually wanting her dummy and refusing to sleep more than an arms length away from me makes me feel like a crap mum.
The state of my house make me feel like a lazy git.
The fact that I can't find paperwork to enable me to trade in and collect my new car makes me feel like an idiot.
Dh having to work his usual long hours makes me think I won't cope with 2 children when I can barely cope with one and am doing so many things wrong with her anyway.
It has dawned on me I'm not talking about this to anyone in case they agree that I really am an all round rubbish, lazy person.
I want to be on top of everything but have no idea what to tackle first. My confidence has really been shattered by all this.
And if my mil gets in contact, she WILL confirm my fears.
I just want to pause the world so I can try and catch up with housework and sort out paperwork. I want someone to give me a crystal ball and tell me I won't end up with a teenage dd, wearing pull ups, using a dummy and sleeping in my arms. I can't see how I am going to solve those issues.
Really, I just want my fabulous mum back to help me make everything better. She wouldn't judge - just do stuff. I'm afraid anyone else might judge me. I wouldn't be able to take it.
I am the strong one, the fixer. Except it is a lie. I am not strong and I can't fix anything.

OP posts:
MrsCosmopilite · 07/03/2014 09:25

Drama - you ARE strong. But you are under a hell of a lot of stress. I'm going to break your list of 'to do' things/observations down...

No chance of leave. Unless I get signed off by the doctors. School are being awful. Get signed off. The kids will miss you but the adults are being shits. You need some space. By all means note down what you need to do on a daily basis for your job, what meetings are coming up, but you can then leave that aside knowing that you've covered everything from your side.
(I remember being off sick from work and my boss rang me every day "to see how you're doing". But really to find out when I was coming back. I got the doc to sign me off for two more weeks with stress. It really helped me calm down and reassess).

I should have prevented this and have let everyone down.. No you have not let everyone down and there is no way you could have prevented this. You were not to know that some people in your family are back-stabbing, lying bastards to such a degree. Any decent person would expect others to be decent.

The stuff going on about school makes me feel like I am crap at my job. You can't keep all the plates spinning all the time. You're not crap - you need a bit of space and healing time.

Dd regressing with lots of wet pants, continually wanting her dummy and refusing to sleep more than an arms length away from me makes me feel like a crap mum. - This is how her grief is manifesting itself. She wants the security of having you nearby - someone she loved has effectively 'disappeared' so she's going to be clingy. You're doing all the right things with the books. If you need to cuddle up together and cry, do it!

The state of my house make me feel like a lazy git. - Housework is the devil's arse and can be ignored. As long as you have a bed to sleep in and a plate to eat off/something to eat with, it's fine. If it bothers you that much, rope in some mates to have a 'cleaning party'. You supply tea/cake. They hoover, wash up, etc.

The fact that I can't find paperwork to enable me to trade in and collect my new car makes me feel like an idiot. - You're already trying to cope with a hell of a lot, it is no wonder you're mislaying documents. I did this when my Dad died. Mislaid all the documentation relating to probate. I was trying to cope with DH working 6 days a week, rest of family not dealing with Dad's passing, and college. Got there in the end, but I had to let some things sit unattended whilst I worked through my own grief.

Dh having to work his usual long hours makes me think I won't cope with 2 children when I can barely cope with one and am doing so many things wrong with her anyway. Is there any chance DH can get some leave? Or a friend can be on hand for a few hours a week? Nobody is a perfect parent. As long as she's clothed, fed, cuddled and loved, you're doing it right.

It has dawned on me I'm not talking about this to anyone in case they agree that I really am an all round rubbish, lazy person. Talk to your GP. Talk to your friends. Talk to us here. You are absolutely not rubbish, nor are you lazy. But you are trying to be all things to all people and putting yourself so far down the list of 'people to care for' that you're falling off the list.

I want to be on top of everything but have no idea what to tackle first. You've handed over stuff to the Sol, and to the Police. Keep records of that, and consider those things out of your hands. MrsCake has a great idea about the memory book and the photographs.

My confidence has really been shattered by all this. Of course it has, love. You'll get it back, I promise. However, it's not an overnight fix. Step by step, things WILL improve. Right now, you're at a low point, quite understandably.

We all like to think of ourselves as copers, as strong, as invincible. It takes it out of us to discover that we're not. When we're constantly being undermined, and taken advantage of, then confidence will be lost.

Any one of us who is near to you and can help will do so willingly.

Right now, I want you to get yourself a Brew. I want you to take a really deep breath. I want you to give yourself a huge hug. Now phone the doctor and make that appointment.

If you want to offload, please feel free to PM me.

saffronwblue · 07/03/2014 10:22

drama you are clearly so strong and so capable and are holding so many really tough balls in the air. Things will get better - just try to get through the next few days.

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 07/03/2014 10:45

drama this is beyond what a lot of people could easily cope with, so no defeatist talk about you being weak or incapable. Cut yourself some slack. Your little girl is feeling out of sorts but she's just needing time and all the extra hugs she can get. Your employers are horrors there's no escaping that for now. As for that shameful side of the family now whining because they got caught out well we've all said what a waste of space they are. You are quite within your rights to cut any comments from MIL with a firm, "That's really not helping me right now so I'd be obliged if you'd butt out ".

We are here for you if not geographically handy so don't hesitate to vent here or PM folk. And why not give your GP a call, if this is your last trimester it's not right you should be feeling such stress.

Rowgtfc72 · 07/03/2014 12:02

Drama, have been following this and am saddened to see your relatives spoiling your grandas memory. Mrs Cosmopilite says everything above, you are not wonder woman and you need to take some time for yourself. Sod work, you're more important.

lazarusb · 07/03/2014 17:48

I just want to reiterate what everyone else has said, especially MrsC.
I'm sure your solicitor will advise you on preventing them having anything to do with emptying the flat until the police have come to a conclusion.

I know it sounds hard but your cousin and aunt have clearly stolen from a vulnerable old man who was dying. Any time your cousin decides to whinge, remind him of that. They have to bear the consequences of their actions.

Your dh knows what an amazing person you are. He knows what you are capable of. He is also worried that in the last few months you've had more to deal with than most of us do in a few years. It's normal to feel you can't cope - but you will. Write a list and prioritise.

If you need time off, get signed off. Put yourself and your baby first. Your Granda would have wanted that, he was so proud of you and mini-drama. Her wetting is a sign of grief, not you being a bad mum. Ds1 started wetting the bed when my Nan died (he was 8). We got through it, it wasn't fun, he was just struggling to cope.

Take care drama, we are all here for you, on this thread or via PM.