What a long, expensive weekend...

Got up to my sister's city Thursday afternoon. We decided to beat the snow coming into the Chicago area...glad we did, because we had 6" at home.
Spent the evening with my nephew and his wife and daughter...he is only 9 years younger than me, so we grew up almost as brother and sister the first 10 years of his life. His brother and sister are a bit younger, and I never really got to know them. My nephew has a heart of gold, whereas the other two are leeches, IMO...
My nephew was extremely close to my sis...they both considered one another their best friend. He took her in after she got very sick 2 years ago and could no longer live on her own. His wife cleaned up after her when she got c diff and cleaned and infused her IVs...he was heartbroken to lose his mom...

Friday we got to the funeral home after finding out that my sister's life insurance policy wasn't scheduled to pay fully until 2 years after she bought it. It had only been in force 11 months when she passed. So the kids would get a whopping $400 to put towards the $7100 bill
My nephew had emptied her checking account-a few hundred dollars. my sister was rock-bottom poor after years of working hard as a nurse, but with mucho doc bills and med bills... and the kids aren't doing well either.

So, needless to say, my very dear husband offered to pay the majority of the bill. The three kids are going to use their tax refunds to pay the rest. A group of nurses that my sis worked for gave them $250, which went immediately towards the bill.

There was nothing but drama the whole weekend, since they all thrive on it. I swear it shortened my sister's life...she worried about dying and leaving them. When we were young, and my dad passed, it made my sister grow up-she couldn't go to him to rescue her from her bad decisions...for awhile, she got her act together. But her life was riddled with bad choices. I hope that her kids grow up now...

In the end, she made one good decision-she had been driving when her last heart attack came on. She drove into a gas station, ran into the station, said "I can't breathe," and collapsed. She was smart enough to get off the road and not put anyone else's life in danger.

I felt a sense of relief when I saw her so peaceful in her coffin...no more stress, no more illness...no more kids' drama...just peace.

My nephew told me that she had started smoking again after almost two years off of the habit...her cardiologist, who also worked with her, visited the wake. When he found out she'd begun smoking, he said, "That's what killed her. When you restart, your arteries close up tightly and if you throw a clot, you're done." So sad...and such a waste...