Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Crafting is STILL a lot more fun than Lawyers

Tonight, I removed the eCraft from the table beside me to make way for a 24" printer that I need to make exhibits for what should be the final hearings in the epic battle we've been waging regarding my in-laws guardianship and, now, estate.

My father-in-law passed away in January.  While it changes the nature of the battle to protect my in-laws, it didn't change the need to keep going for at least a bit longer.

I didn't remove the eCraft from its accustomed place because I plan to permanently abandon it.  But, right now it's a victim of the need to set priorities.

If we win the next two court cases, we expect it to all be over for a while.

If we lose, then we expect my sister-in-law to keep fighting until the estate is eaten up by lawyer's fees.  And, the odd thing is that I don't think she will ever see any of the money she craves because her lawyers will get it first.  Greed, it appears, kills the area of the brain that thinks logically.  And, bitterness stuffs rationality down into the deepest hold imaginable.

So, until we see the end of the saga, cutters, cutting and crafting lie beyond the limits we have in a 24 hour day. 

But, it not all been in vain.  I have learned to appreciate the value of planning for those days when we lose the ability to plan.  And, I've got an even greater appreciation of the wonderful gift of my own parents and siblings in the context of my parent's aging and deaths.  I've probably already written this somewhere.  But, my parents were gracious in life and equally gracious in death.  That may seem an odd thing to one that has not watched a parent decline to the point of death.  But, sooner or later all of my readers will know exactly what I mean by that sentence.

I WILL be back.  You are a great group of people and I could NOT stay away forever.

You probably will not hear from me again until after the March hearings.  Hopefully, I will be a happy camper on my return.  :)

10 comments:

Ruthie said...

Oh Tom - how sad that he passed! Huge hugs to you all.

I really hope this all pans out the way it should - I feel so cross towards her putting you all through such an awful time (and herself!) but, sometimes greed runs the show.

I remember being in my grandads house after he died - my mum was an only child but he had sisters. One of the sisters daughters came into the house and was charging around looking for money that she says he had hidden for his funeral! - I remember standing in a room with her, watching as she kicked in a boarded up fireplace to see if he had hidden it there! I was 12 and it influenced me so much - I just knew I would never ever chase after "dead man's money" in that way - she was like a mad thing and really scared me.

The sad thing was that the money was never found (no thats not the sad bit...wait for it) but all the family photos were taken by a family member - we now have no photos of my mum as a child (or of my grandad or grandmother)...some things are so much more important than dirty cash.

I really really feel for you all - I have no way of showing my strength of feeling and empathy for you other than to send you all big imaginary hugs and to say that you have a lot of wisdom and honour and I hope you prevail!

Gosh - talk about splurge!

Rx

Starla said...

Sorry to hear about your father in law. Hopefully, all of this will soon be behind you.

SciReg said...

A great post! I really like it!^_^

Tom Meeks said...

I'm amazed and appreciative that people are still keeping up with this blog!

Thanks SciReg and Starla, I appreciate your support. :)

Ruthie, you are right. Family photos are a LOT more precious than money. While I find old photos of families on the walls of restaurants to be interesting in the way they reflect changing times, I am always a bit sad that no one now knows who those people in the picture were. Their existence apparently has been lost and the only people looking at their smiles and features are strangers.

We are a fortunate generation in that respect. Digital images mean that EVERY member of a family can get copies of those photos. And, that is a wonderful blessing to ALL the generations.

David Hubit said...

Hello I'm still new to blogging so I may be very rusty at this but I wanted to comment because I just started scrapbooking and making crafts using the ecraft and trying out embossing with the ebosser. I don't mean to sound like I am trying to promote these products, just listing the machines I'm using to start learning this new technique. It's all new to me. So far, they have been working like a charm. I haven't had any problems with either one. Can I ask you why you are getting rid of yours? I will try posting a few of my projects and designs I have made on them if you want to see it. Thanks.


-David Hubit

Tom Meeks said...

Hi David,

I want to make it very clear that I am not getting rid of the eCraft. In fact, I still own two. And, will keep both.

I only meant that I had moved the eCraft from the table beside me in order to make room for a large format printer that I needed to produce exhibits in our court case.

At some point I expect as active with the eCraft community as I was when the machine first surfaced.

In fact, I am in the process of rearranging printers and scanners as I near the end of the need for high-volume scanning and large format printing winds down.

Tom Meeks said...

Oop! Forget to add...

Yes, I and others WOULD like to see your designs!

David Hubit said...

I apologize, as I said I am still new to blogging, would you be able to tell me how I would go about putting up an image to my design on here. Thank you.

Tom Meeks said...

Just email the images to me and I'll post them.

My email is my first initial and last name at CreateandCut.com

David Hubit said...

Hi Tom,

Did you recieve the e-mail I sent to you with a few of my examples? If not, I'll send them again. Thanks.

David