Along for the ride:

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Reports of His Death Were Greatly Exaggerated

The Artistic One came with baggage, and I don'tmean the kind with wheels! However, it seemed that the drama was left behind so many years ago that it was not even a shadow on the rear view mirror of our lives.
Last Saturday, as we were working hard to meet a client deadline, TAO had what might be called a near death experience. One of his sons called on my cell phone, asking if his Dad was all right. I passed the phone to TAO, who was next to me and he headed to a quieter part of our building to take the call. He came back chuckling and telling us we should celebrate his return from the dead.
His ex-wife had called her son to tell him that his Father had died. He was very upset, as one would imagine. Several minutes into the conversation, the Ex mentioned she wasn't 100% sure of her facts. Multiple anguished phone calls between siblings ensued, followed by calls from France to the US. 
My understanding of the facts leads me to the following interpretation. The first is a given; someone is batshit crazy (more than before) and needs to be watched closely from now on. Second; the alchoholic cousin who left a message on her answering machine that started the ball rolling was interested in selling a painting TAO had given him long ago. He'd counted the decades on his fingers and made a self-serving leap to the conclusion that TAO must be long gone and, as such, the painting must be more valuable.
French Farce anyone?

18 comments:

  1. Oh my!!! Break out the champagne while you still can!

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  2. Good Lord; French Farce for sure. We had similar drama when we were first married; don't miss those days at all. Like you said, not a shadow on the rear view mirror anymore. Thank goodness. ...and to do that to the kids. Sigh.

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  3. Terrible thing to do to someone and his family! If it happens unintentionally, it's more than embarrassing to the one who has initiated it.
    'All's well that ends well', as they say.

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  4. Well, that's not a good phone call to get. Glad Tao and you took it in stride and he could chuckle about it. Geez!

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  5. What? That is a horrible and awful thing to do. This is one of those cases when one of the 5 Stages of Grief (denial) works out.

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  6. Thanks for commenting. I'm holding back my responses, in case they come home to bite me later:(

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  7. The saying , "You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family " is twice as true for in-laws ( and all the variations ! ) .
    My father used to advise me marry an orphan ...

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    1. S&S, I married an older man, whose parents passed at a young age. I congratulated myself on the lack of in-laws. Who knew there were other hurdles? Naive, I know.

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  8. Batshit crazy. Must be family in there somehow.
    And,
    "it was not even a shadow on the rear view mirror of our lives." Incredible line.

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    1. M R, thank you. An additional warning came our way from family that, were we to hear of the suicide of a nephew we should disregard.
      Consider the source is always good advice.

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  9. Glad to hear another TAO story has a happy ending. I must say, your life with him has had its adventures.

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    1. Jean, he has to renew his driver licence tomorrow with written test. He must remember to answer as someone who wishes to pass the test, not as a French driver telling the truth. He has a hard time with spin or diplomacy:(

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  10. How pleased I am to have found your blog - I wouldn't have done had you not put a comment on mine! I am now going to put you on my blogroll forthwith. Do please call again.

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    1. Weaver, I don't always have time to comment, or what we in this techie world call "Bandwidth" left over to be creative. I have been reading and enjoying your posts for a while. Thank you

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  11. Haven't visited for a while. Good to find that life is still far from dull in your neck of the woods.

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  12. Hi Martin,
    Thanks for stopping by. We all have so much to distract us these days.

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  13. I know I'm a bit late to this post but oh, my, I thought MY ex-and his family-was batshit crazy. Now I know I am not alone!
    But, oh you certainly could have had fun with the alcoholic cousin who was (is!) already counting the money he'll make on the artwork. Tell him he needs to take it (personally, no shipping) to Sotheby's where they will give him an estimate on it's value. They take walk ins, everybody knows that (not really). It will cost him money to get there only to be given a "are you out of your mind, just walking in?".

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  14. Khutulan, better late than never. There has been an adjustment to ex-wife's medication. One part of the problem abated for now.

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