My Uncle v4.5

My uncle called yesterday, and I answered. I need someone to pinch me when his name shows up on my phone. DON’T DO IT!!!! DON’T ANSWER THE CALL!! After some circular pleasantries he launched into asking about a letter he received from some huckster saying they could forward his inheritance from my mom’s estate in 24-hours. Nothing I could say dissuaded him from rounding back to his need to talk to his attorney about the potential validity of this letter. Hello Dementia! The estate is closed. The name of the estate in the letter is incorrect. He received his inheritance and cashed the check. Yes, Uncle I know this because I wrote that check. This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation.

As the above was going on I emailed my aunt insisting that she shred this letter as it was only causing my uncle anxiety and distress. Furthermore that the letter is clearly fraudulent, and certainly if they wanted to talk to their attorney about it (and that lawyer would want to talk to me), to go ahead, spend the money. Or know that it’s a bunch of bullshit and throw it out. Gawd I was pissed.

By the end of the day, my aunt wrote back, a few times, to tell me the letter was destroyed, and to thank me for my supporting her in ‘gentle deception’ when dealing with anything that will cause my uncle anxiety. If it’s bullshit, he doesn’t have to see it. And if he does see it, it can disappear. He won’t remember. And ain’t that a blessing in the midst of the horrors of dementia.