Huh.

Well, the move has happened. 

My brother and his wife did almost all the actual work of getting Mom packed up and moved out of her house and into assisted living. Matt went last weekend and helped with the process, but most of the work had already been done. My other brother, the one who lives in the same town Mom has spent the last 52 years in, did some of the hauling trash to the dump, too.

So Mom's in assisted living now. She sounded more coherent when I talked to her this week than she has in some time. She has made a friend already, and is participating in some activities offered to the residents of her new place.

I hope she is happy and comfortable there. I don't wish her discomfort or unhappiness. I hope she has a peaceful existence until she passes away. I have a feeling that she isn't going to be around much longer, although I am not basing that on anything concrete, just a feeling.

I know that she would hate the idea of lingering in a confused state.
Her mother had dementia and lived in a care facility for SIXTEEN YEARS. Her body was fine. Her brain? Nope.

One of the things my brother and his wife have done is deal with all the bills and stuff for Mom. I don't believe they're stealing or doing anything they shouldn't, by the way. I'm not the least concerned. The parents never had a lot of money, and there's not a lot of money left at the end of Mom's life, either. Once her house sells (if it does) Steve says he's putting most of the money in a high-yield account of some sort and then using the rest for her care. After she dies, he plans to split whatever's left three ways between the three of us "kids". 

I told him he could keep mine, but he said that he feels strongly that it's the right thing to do. 

Watch. It will be something like 250 bucks 20 years from now. Haha.

But while they were figuring out all the expenses and what Dad owed here and there, they discovered that he'd been using his credit cards for cash advances and gambling the money away. He had over 50 thousand dollars in gambling debt, mostly online poker.

Mom had no idea. She still doesn't, Steve said he saw no reason to tell her. I agree, what purpose would it serve?

He consulted an attorney when the credit card companies suddenly were asking for money, and he told Steve that because they were outside the amount of time in which they could legally demand payment from the estate, they had to just write the debt off.

It was definitely a surprise to find this out.

Fifty grand.
Wow.