My Dear Cousin - My Aunt’s Estate

26^th May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

Here comes the point that I’ve been dreading. This could be the dumbest or most evil thing I’ve done in my life. In hindsight, well, I should have said no to the whole thing. You may recall that at some point one of our aunts died, and she, having no children, meant a part of her estate to go to my family.

What I got out of that was about fifty thousand dollars. I recall my two siblings getting their checks first and my (Pickle) and I both thinking that I was going to get shortchanged. I had honestly been treated that badly by family over the years. It just wasn’t all that odd an idea for me to get cut out of my aunt’s estate, but the next day the check came and those fears disappeared.

I remember that at this point I went out and bought a car. It was a Honda Civic, and I got it used. I had replaced a good amount of my computer equipment and updated a number of things. I mean, the dumbest thing I had spent money on was trying to get my old car to stop leaking transmission fluid which ended up destroying the car.

Anyway, I had a little over half the money from the inheritance left when a valve went out in the front bathroom. You see, we had galvanized pipes which rust on the inside and gum up your valves and I had replaced almost every valve in the house at this point.

I remember getting that bad valve off was hard. I would spray it with WD-40 and tap it with a hammer. Then I’d try to get it off the pipe and when it wouldn’t come I would spray it again and let it sit for an hour. I think it took six hours to get it off but that was worth the work to let me work on the toilet.

Anyway, (Pickle) figured that we needed to remodel the bathrooms. I think he just figured that I had money, and he should spend it before I did. They always figured I was bad with money which could be one reason why they never gave me much of it even if they owed it to me.

I didn’t think things through and I agreed to have the place remodeled. One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done. I’ll save the next dumb thing for my next letter.

Best,

 

Richard Leland Neal

My Dear Cousin - Another Car

25^th May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

 

As I recall, I have now written to you about all the events of my family life ending with the three gifts I rejected from (Yule), his mother, and his sister. I have to remind you at this point that everything that was ever given to me by my family was at some point used as leverage to force me to do something I didn’t want to do.

I recall (Pony Girl) bringing up every dime she could remember that my old man had ever given me. She couldn’t remember that she had gotten more than eighty thousand dollars from the man at this point, and the last time I had accepted anything from the family they had harassed me about it until I was too depressed to go to work.

I calculated something like fifteen thousand dollars in lost wages from that, but I’m sure if I had mentioned that they would have said it wasn’t their fault. That was my family for you. They did whatever they wanted to me, and I was just supposed to take it without complaint. I defend myself in any way, and I’m the villain.

In any case, the old man got on another of his legal drug benders and wound up in a manic state where he was just spending money like it was going to go bad in a week and this led (Pickle) to come to me and say that I could have my (Pony Girl)'s old car as she was getting the old man’s SUV now he was getting a new one.

“I can tell your answer by the look on your face,” he said seeing how I felt. Her car was a Saturn SC2 and were as it was in better shape than the Saturn SL2 they had tortured me over the thing had problems I didn’t want to inherit. I recall that the sunroof was no longer working, and they had needed to do work on the power train.

At some point after that I asked for money for college which I was promised but never got. The old man once again said he would give me money and never did then he got himself a second SUV instead and when he found himself in a ditch with blown out tires he stopped doing whatever drug he had been taking as of late and my sister became his power of attorney.

They returned the second SUV, and I got nothing, as expected, I never got anything from that old man that was of value.

I do recall at some point (Pickle) telling me that (Pony Girl) had said she took all of the old man’s money and put it in her bank account so that I couldn’t ask for what he had promised me ever again. This is felony larceny by the law, but I guess it doesn’t work that one once you have power of attorney.

Best,

 

Richard Leland Neal

Cotswold Way - Bath

On the last stretch of my Cotswold Way, I walked past Dyrham Park, a lavish 17th century house that was owned by the Blathwayt family for 230 years until its acquisition by the National Trust in the mid-20th century. It used to have a herd of fallow deer from the 1500s until 2021. Used as a film location and undergoing significant restoration works in recent years, the property is now open to the public.

 

The trail skirted around Lansdowne Hill where the Battle of Lansdowne was fought during the First English Civil War (1643 AD). A fierce battle ensued between Royalists and Parliamentarians with heavy losses for the Royalists. Over the course of that night, however, the Parliamentarians silently fled for Bath, resulting in a victory for the Royalists.

 

With great anticipation I completed the rest of my journey and arrived in the gorgeous city of Bath. Entering from the northwest, I passed by a spectacular row of terraced houses in a crescent layout known as the Royal Crescent. A little further east was The Circus, a circular grassy area surrounded by curving townhouses. When viewed from the air, the two landmarks form the famous ‘question mark’ shape.

 

Of course, no trip to Bath is complete without a visit to the Roman Baths. Built by the Romans in the 1st century, the baths were used until their withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century. Over time the baths disappeared under silt and the city grew on top of it. When it was rediscovered in the late 19th century, the baths were found 13ft (4m) below street level.

 

Adjacent to the Roman Baths is the grand Bath Abbey. Built over a century and completed in 1611, the abbey’s Gothic architecture is breathtaking. Featuring pointed arches, fan vaulting and finely carved pews, the abbey has a total of 52 windows including the spectacular stained glass behind the altar. More than 600 wall memorials and over 800 floor stones adorn the interior dedicated to various figures throughout the city’s history.

 

Another fascinating landmark was Pulteney Bridge. Built in 1774, the triple-arched stone bridge is one of only four bridges in the world to have shops built across its full span. It reminds me of the Ponte-Vecchio in Florence where the St Francis Way begins. Although Ponte-Vecchio is only open to pedestrians whilst Pulteney Bridge continues to have vehicular access.

 

To round up my journey, I meandered up to Alexandra Park for a splendid view over the city. Here I reflected on the beautiful villages I travelled through, the rolling hills and mysterious woods and somehow wished it wasn’t over yet.

 

I bid you farewell until the next time.

 

PS. Experience our virtual challenges in real life - The Conqueror Adventures

 

The team at The Conqueror Challenges
https://www.theconqueror.events

 

My Dear Cousin - Walking Pony Girl

22^nd  May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

Every time I write you now I go over the letters that I wrote and now and then a memory comes up of an interesting anecdote. Back around the tenth and eleventh I talked about losing my job. One of the windfalls of that was that I started walking with (Pony Girl).

(Pony Girl) had been diagnosed with hemorrhoids and walking got her business moving. Every now and then she would need to take off running to use the restroom. It’s a thing I can laugh at now, but it made a positive impact on her health.

I do recall that people were telling her that she looked thinner, but that she didn’t lose weight. In truth, had I followed this up with good diet I would have changed her life, but I was still ill myself and knew little about health.

We took the same walk we used to when going to grade school. The school is about a half mile from the house, and there are two ways of getting there from where I live. One way you walk up and down a hill and the other is flat land. We would go there on the flat way and come back by the hill. One night we did this ten times. (Pony Girl) even tried to get her girlfriend walking but she wasn’t much of a walking partner.

The telling event that came from this is when I talked about changing jobs. I didn’t want to go back to security. The only thing that really brought me joy back in high school was theater and I mentioned that I wanted to go into acting.

This really pissed off (Pony Girl) and she started by screaming at me that I wouldn’t get any overtime working as an actor. This is actually not true, but you normally don’t work at night as an actor. I could have done it for extra money but not as a job.

(Pony Girl), however, demanded we stop talking about it she was so mad. Mind you I had just put her up for two years as she finished college and she was refusing to pay me back.

Looking back I think this was very telling of how she saw me. I was a means to an end and she was basically a parasite who felt I lived to make her happy. I’ve lived a life with that woman eating me financially, and that hasn’t changed.

Best,

 

Richard Leland Neal 

My Dear Cousin - Phone Call

23^rd May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

In yesterday’s letter I told you that my family had given me a basket of cookies as an olive branch. Rather a way to say, how about we just forget all the harm we did you and move on. As I said, when I showed no interest in these they found their way to the trash, and I’m not the one who put them there.

 I overheard (Pickle) on the phone with the aunt that made those cookies and heard her say “Is he still mad?” Given the fact that I was expected to pay two hundred thousand dollars for a car that they sold for four hundred bucks they probably would have asked for one of my kidneys in a week.

If they tried to make amends it would have cost them money. I would have expected my family to give me money for college as they did for my (Pickle) and (Pony Girl). I would have expected compensation for my pain.

Honestly, I think what they wanted was for me to spend the rest of my life looking after (Pickle) and they wanted to give me nothing for it. I was in school for the arts and there is no limit to how much I could have made but no likelihood of me making money. It was a gamble but so is most of life.

Further, the old man made it clear that he didn’t want three children, and I think he resented having to look after me. If he could have he’d have kicked me out when I was eighteen. The only reason he didn’t is that it’s my house I live in. He said as much back when I was in high school.

Then, they’ve been trying to take that away from me for years now. I don’t know why those folks were so dominated by greed. I had to live to make them happy, and I was never expected to be happy on my own.

Some would say that my family owed me nothing. Just because my siblings got something did not mean that I had to get the same. That could be true, but why should I suffer for those who don’t care about me?

Best, 

 

Richard Leland Neal