Red skies at morning

An absolutely beautiful sunrise this morning, with the sun behind the mountains lighting up the clouds in an ethereal manner. I know we will pay for it later today with rain, but the hills are finally starting to turn green again with all the rain we had this past weekend. I’m tired of brown.

This will be the first Christmas without my older sister-in-law’s family participating. There has been a falling out in the family over money—the sister-in-law feels she has been screwed out of “her” house and some money. My wife’s parents have bailed this daughter out time after time, as she continues to make horrendous choices in her life. Finally the parents said “no more, you’re on your own.” It’s painful now, but I’m almost glad to be without the drama that accompanies my sister-in-law everywhere she goes. It will be nice not to have someone losing their temper and storming out in a huff on Christmas day. My one regret is that our 2 year old is growing up without knowing his cousins.

This impacts me once a year due to the fact that I’m the trustee on my father-in-law’s insurance trust. I have to notify the people named in the trust each time the trust is funded (funds that are used to pay the insurance premium). The terms of the trust were set up so that those notified have to waive their right to the funding. I figured I wouldn’t hear back from the sister-in-law since this was immediately after the falling out, so I sent the letter certified mail in order to document her receipt. I’m sure that didn’t help matters, but I would be negligent in my duties as trustee if I didn’t keep up with this paperwork.

I guess one of the lessons of all this is if you are setting up a trust, do no assume that relationships will always be good. Assume the worst and put in what you want to make sure things proceed smoothly. Plan so that you have red skies at night.