My Grandma Lenihan has been dead for over twenty-five years now, but periodically she pops into my life just to let me know that she still has an eye on me. No, I don't see dead people, but there are some people who have gone on that reach back from time to time to give me a nod or a nudge, in a way that I know it's them, and she is one of them.
This time I'm not the only one she helped. My eldest cousin got a phone call from an insurance company a few months back. It seems Grandma had taken an insurance policy out on our Uncle John, of which she was the beneficiary. None of us knew about it, and it wasn't in any of her files, or my Mom's. My Uncle John had schizophrenia and was institutionalized for most of his adult life. Grandma, and then Mom (and then myself and my sister) were his legal guardians. There is no immediate family left, so the ten of us cousins had an unknown amount that we needed to claim/share.
My sister rounded up all the addresses and sent out all the paperwork, but the insurance company couldn't release the amount of money we were inheriting. It was fun to dream about thousands, but we knew the reality, split ten ways, would be more like $50. Not that I would sneeze at fifty bucks! Found money is found money, and when (as my Father would say) "the wolf is at the door" you take what you can get!
Yesterday I got a call from the insurance company. They wanted to verify that we were the only beneficiaries. When we were done going over the fact that my entire family is gone from that generation (lovely) she asked if I had any questions. Well duh! How much is the check? Turns out more than fifty bucks! Not tons more, but I no longer have to wonder how I'm going to finagle paying both renters and car insurance this fall. (Thanks Gram!)
Then my other question. When on earth did my Grandma take out this policy? Turns out it was in 1941. So a decision she made in 1941 saved my bacon in 2012. That's some ripple effect!
This time I'm not the only one she helped. My eldest cousin got a phone call from an insurance company a few months back. It seems Grandma had taken an insurance policy out on our Uncle John, of which she was the beneficiary. None of us knew about it, and it wasn't in any of her files, or my Mom's. My Uncle John had schizophrenia and was institutionalized for most of his adult life. Grandma, and then Mom (and then myself and my sister) were his legal guardians. There is no immediate family left, so the ten of us cousins had an unknown amount that we needed to claim/share.
My sister rounded up all the addresses and sent out all the paperwork, but the insurance company couldn't release the amount of money we were inheriting. It was fun to dream about thousands, but we knew the reality, split ten ways, would be more like $50. Not that I would sneeze at fifty bucks! Found money is found money, and when (as my Father would say) "the wolf is at the door" you take what you can get!
Yesterday I got a call from the insurance company. They wanted to verify that we were the only beneficiaries. When we were done going over the fact that my entire family is gone from that generation (lovely) she asked if I had any questions. Well duh! How much is the check? Turns out more than fifty bucks! Not tons more, but I no longer have to wonder how I'm going to finagle paying both renters and car insurance this fall. (Thanks Gram!)
Then my other question. When on earth did my Grandma take out this policy? Turns out it was in 1941. So a decision she made in 1941 saved my bacon in 2012. That's some ripple effect!
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