Then last night my sister and her husband showed back up around 10 pm, hung out for a while, then she started looking for the keys to the car she had given mom years back after dad had his stroke. I was puzzled, but once I figured out what she had been looking for (had to ask her) I got the keys (which I had setting by my purse because I was going to be driving said car), and handed them to her. Turned out she wants to take the car and I need to clear my stuff out of it. As I write this that’s been done and they have the car and I am sitting here carless after having thought I had a car for taking dad where he needed to go and for doing the shopping. Silly me.

What the backstory is… after mom died – the day she was buried, we followed her to Anchorage in the white Cadillac. We stopped on the way home and I filled the tank so it would be ready when I needed the car in the spring because at that time the price of gas was supposed to go up still, so at roughly $5 a gallon I filled the tank in the Caddy.

As I was filling it Helen moseyed around and asked me what I was going to do with the car, because she had apparently heard that I had asked my brother about him driving the car when dad needed to go anywhere since I didn’t like driving in the winter and he lives next door. I’ve not driven much, it has bad brakes, I prefer the professional race car driver to be driving in icy conditions rather than me. She seemed to think I was giving him the car, I said to her, “You gave it to mom, I know that. If anyone other than Dad gets it it’d be you.” She replied with, “Oh no! It’s dad’s car, and I want you to keep it and drive it, I just don’t want anyone else driving it because they would ruin it.” We talked for a bit and I made it clear I would not drive it in the winter, I’m not a good enough driver to feel safe on the road with the lunatics that need to relearn winter driving every year, I’d wait for Spring then drive it. She seemed to have no problem with that, car was dad’s and I was to drive it so me and dad had transportation. She made a few hints I should drive some before the snow hit, but I never got the chance to and didn’t really care to drive until the brakes got fixed on it. So I left it parked for the winter.

I kept paying the insurance every month, faithfully, just to be sure it would still be insured this month when I could safely drive it. Car was parked, but I paid the insurance, because I knew I would be driving this spring.

Now, last night… she takes the car away from me. No forewarning, no comment, just searched through things for the keys and without a word on what she was up to took the car. I had to dang near pull teeth before she admitted that yes, she’s keeping it and I have to empty my things and mom’s and dad’s stuff outta it. At first she’d commented that it would be up here a lot so I could get things any time I wanted to, I chose to get stuff today since the car didn’t start last night. They were back around noon today with a wrecker and took it away.

They also have dad down there, which is the second night in a row he’s spent the night down there – in same clothing he had day before yesterday, sleeping on a recliner in the garage rather than them bringing him back home to sleep in his bed. I expected him to be back when they came after the Caddy, but they didn’t bring him home then. Called a while ago, nephew said he had no idea and would have his mom call me back, haven’t heard from her yet though. No idea when, or if, dad’ll be home. Which means he won’t get a chance to rest before I have to go to the Saturday Market deal in the morning to try and kickstart a new home based business to try and earn money to help make ends meet. They were supposed to take dad so I could go get that going, but I’m uneasy now after two full nights sleeping in a chair in a garage. That can’t be good for his health, but I have no way out at this point, I have space reserved (have for a couple weeks now) and everything, all I can do is let them keep him one more night and go to the Saturday Market and have dad brought home tomorrow evening.

I’m not amused at any of it, in case it don’t show. (And this is only the things I can growl about publicly – sheeeeesh).

So, this evening I’ll have my brother drop off medications, clothes and PJs so at least Dad has had a change of clothing down there and something more comfortable than corduroy pants to sleep in. Then I’ll get ready for the Saturday Market I am supposed to be at starting at around 8 or 9 in the morning.

I had planned to take Caddy up to it, now I will be figuring out how to get my quilting things onto my ATV, since my brother has other things he needs to be doing at that time.

Don’t ya just love family? No wonder mom used to watch Momma’s Family and Rosanne and say she watched because it made her feel like her family was normal.

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(And no, I’m not joking – they live upstairs of the garage and he can’t get up there, so he sleeps in recliner downstairs in the garage with the cars when he’s at her place. I don’t like but can’t stop it either cause he wants to see other peoples and they don’t visit him here very much – plus, they let him smoke all that he wants to, I limit him to a cigarette every half hour.)