Friday 17 May 2019

Stony ground


I have gone from hardly ever thinking about my brother to thinking of little else for about three days.

Actually, that is not quite true. Recently I have been as broke as I ever have been, and I have pointlessly pondered on what my life would be like today if he had not stolen the hundreds of thousands of pounds from us that he did. If he committed the same crimes today it would translate into about £2 million or more.

Over 600 people read yesterday's post. That is a record for me. I am guessing this was not because the post was an interesting one - far from it. That sort of story is probably one of the most boring and predictable ones that you can read. I think it must resonate with more people than I expected it to. Most families that do split up do so due to arguments about money. People become very basic when it comes to money.

When my parents tried to apologise for allowing him to deprive us of the inheritance (which they did many times before they died) I said, "Look on the bright side. You can now be sure that I visit you for no other reason than that I want to, and I will never look on you as potential corpses".

So today I am looking forward to the future by concentrating on my new - and first - advertising campaign. I have sent the artwork to the magazine to be printed, and I am printing some mail shot business cards which I intend to send to the most exclusive addresses in the land. It is going to be the opposite of biblical broadcasting: Most fell on stony ground...


19 comments:

  1. It wasn't a boring or predictable story at all. Rather distressing actually. I suspect many would find it very hard to cope with, not only because of the financial aspects.

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    1. I've had many years to cope with it, but my parents ran out of time.

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  2. It was a painful read
    And one only siblings can really understand
    Note : the Archers David and Kenton

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  3. Onwards and upwards ................
    Wishing you loads of work on the horizon from your new ad campaign.
    .......... things can only get better. Sending love❤️, kisses 💋 💋 , hugs, anything that will make you feel better. XXXX

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  4. Well, I’m not keen on golden showers but, if needs must ........ 😂🤣 XXXX

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  5. Fingers crossed for you...x

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  6. -not a boring one, but one that touched a chord. My own grifter aunt came to mind while reading your story. xx

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    1. I think we all have a family member like that to one extent or another.

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  7. I hope your new advertising brings you work and money. Do you dabble in social media at all? I'm thinking Instagram and facebook pages are the way to go with advertising these days, or so my communications major daughter tells me. (I don't do either, so I'm not really a good example). Your story of your brother hit home on both sides of our family. Elder abuse in the form of financial abuse is rampant. -Jenn

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    1. No, I don't trust myself with a presence on social media, for reasons which sometimes become clear here. Yes, money grabbers are rife.

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  8. Nor was I bored, Tom, and actually cast my mind back over my occasional stories of familial induced anguish that caused financial and/or mental pain. There is little to do except suck it up and get on with life. Or, as my grandmother used to say, Pull up your corset strings ladies, we have work to do. So, hoping for no strange remarks about corset string substitutions, you have done something, and that is good, and you will do more, and improve and delete and it will work. Sincerely meant.

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    1. Your corset-string maxim reminded me of John Gray's bra straps. Yes, I am quite relaxed about my abilities to do more, it's just that I am of an age at which I shouldn't have to advertise. I have been too long off the circuit and most of our antique dealers have gone out of business.

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