The Case Against L, Part II

For as long as I can remember, L has had a mental list of the things from Mother's house she wanted "When Mom dies." It was common for her to begin sentences to our mom, "When you die, I want..." She said this with a smile, but it was a smile that failed to mask serious intent.

Before we all went to Mother's house to help Mom move out, L said, "I really don't want anything. It's just STUFF." She did say she wanted a small hand-printed note from our dad that Mom had framed on her bedroom wall.

When she and her family arrived, L made a bee-line for the garage, where sale items were being sorted and priced. She and her kids pawed through the goods for about half an hour before even going into the house to greet Mother.

Here's some of what was in L's car when she drove away from Mother's house last summer:

* Mother's silver
* A lace tablecloth made by our great-grandmother (the only one)
* Mom's small stereo system (which my sister K had explicitly asked for earlier)
* So much other stuff that her husband complained they wouldn't have room to sit in the van on the way home