Assassination

Happy July 4th! It’s hard to believe that DanaRiley and I have been gone from NC for a month. I’m planning on us leaving California mid-week next week, probably Wednesday. That will give me a chance to get to the beach on Monday, pack the car and rest Tuesday so we can leave bright and early Wednesday. I’m not yet sure where we’ll stay the two nights on the road, but at least the first stop will be a hot one looking at the forecast. 

Jeanne has a few nice coffee table books. One of them is a picture book (primarily) on JFK. Alene is mesmerised by this book. She’s gone through it every day, page by page, commenting on the photos she’s looking at, as she had the day before and the day before that.  JFK is her favorite president of all time. When I ask her why, her response is, “Because he was assassinated. He was too young.”  I’ve often wondered how he would have been judged as a president had he not been shot.

Alene has one sibling, her sister Carol. They’ve been estranged for several years. As I’ve mentioned in this blog, Alene has spoken about her family more than I’ve ever known her to do so.  She talks about her mom and dad a lot, and Carol.  I know Carol, and really like her for her humor and laughter and her love of family. I haven’t heard both sides of the story, so I’m not completely certain of the issues between Alene and Carol.  I think Alene feels Carol got away with things she would’ve never gotten away with when they were growing up, among other, more recent issues. Well, Carol was older and I know from my parents, it’s often trial and error.  Whatever the case may be, in the last couple weeks, Alene has seemed to soften a bit when it comes to Carol. We even discussed them getting together and letting bygones be bygones. I know she loves Carol; there’s just a history that only siblings can share. I hope they reconnect at some point…soon. 

It’s entertaining and sometimes very sad to listen to Alene talk to Jeanne about her life at the FF and especially at home. I know, just from the recent time I’ve spent with her, that she says just about anything to justify her existence. I won’t go into everything, but there is quite a bit of exaggeration.  She believes Every. Single. Word. she says, but I know from conversations with Abbey and others in her household, that much of what Alene says she does, just isn’t true. It may have been the case several years ago, but she can’t physically do the things she believes she does. 

Alene gets things in her mind that just won’t leave, like almost anything related to money. She frets over where it goes and who’s taken it.  She is unforgiving when it comes to this subject. I know it breaks Abbey’s heart when Alene believes Abbey (or others) are spending her money when all Abbey is doing is trying to protect her mom’s assets.  I doubt anyone will ever change her mind even when shown proof.  The proof is forgotten the next day. Something related to her money comes up almost daily. Today, it pertained to their recent sale of a jet ski at the FF. When it sold a few weeks ago, Doug told Alene the money was hers.  Alene is pissed off because she said she never knew “they” used her money to purchase it in the first place.  She believes they did it behind her back. Nothing will convince her otherwise. I kind of remember her telling me several years ago that she’d bought a jet ski for the FF. It doesn’t make any difference to her now. 

Jeanne hasn’t used her bbq grill for seven years, since dad and I were here.  I didn’t want to take any chances with it, so no barbecuing for us on July 4th.  I went out to the back patio this afternoon a few times and could smell the burgers and hot dogs cooking in one neighbor's backyard, and on the other side there was the very distinct aroma of steaks being grilled. My mouth was watering!  I love grilled meat and veggies, and even some grilled fruit like pineapple!

This afternoon, Jeanne started not feeling well. She was freezing cold, extremely fatigued and has a sore throat. She fell asleep on the sofa about 2:00 pm and went to bed at 6:00 pm.  Alene is terribly worried about her.  I’m sure our visit has drained her energy and stamina. I’ll make the decision tomorrow if we should leave over the weekend instead of next Wednesday. We can’t have Jeanne sick!