Monday, 22 March 2021

AN ESTATE WORSE THAN DEATH

 AN ESTATE WORSE THAN DEATH

 

On that grey Monday morning in March a dozen years ago I was called to my mum’s home, a Guinness trust property, where she had passed away peacefully in the night.

I sat on her bed holding her hand for a long while until the doctor came.

While he went through the formalities, I began the painful task of notifying the rest of the family.

The doctor came down the stairs and expressed his regrets and offered his condolences then he left, and I continued with the phone calls until the coroner arrived.

Within half an hour of the coroner visiting

There were ten people queuing outside the estate office all staking their claim for her house.

Less than an hour after the coroner and my mum’s body had left the house, I had a visit from the estate manager who did not as you might imagine offer condolences sympathies or regrets but wanted to know when the property would be vacated.

Once we had agreed on a date he left, and his parting shot was “if nobody wants the three piece suite I wouldn’t mind it”

What is the world like?

What are people like? 

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