Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Madness Runs in the Family

The siblings and I are faced with the inevitability that Dear Mother is losing her dear mind. She didn't have that much sanity to begin with, but she was always ready with a litany of jokes and lists of the accomplishments of the prior few days - ie. number of loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and put-away, number of miles driven in her car, number of letters sent, number of massages given, ad nauseum. Her phone calls were all about these things. And updates on people I have not seen since I was 5. Now, her calls are 5 minutes long and consist of asking how New Year's was and what I did. Each query ellicits the same response: "Well, Mom, we called you on New Year's from Jim's house and it was nice. And you?" Just to give her a taste of her own medicine. Unfortunately, the revenge is lost on Mom. She tells me what she thinks happened to her on New Year's with little to no enthusiasm. Someone or something has taken my mother.

Last week, she told me she had given 10 grand for a seminar to learn how to "get on eBay", and now wanted her money back. Because she really didn't have anything to sell! And it was too expensive! Well. Yes. It is. I flipped and and after much research and stress, it turns out she already had the money back. It was "only" 5400 bucks and it was returned the day she called and asked for the refund - two months ago.

She had been scammed by onlinestores.com, as have many people, evinced by the numerous websites extant devoted to the bashing of that company.

The problem is that she had been duped and that no one in the family knew about it until two months had passed. She needs to be taken care of now, as she took care of us.

They say we become our parents. God help me. I wish I knew who they are. I'd shove their wisdom down their throats.

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