Chapter 7

Time Frame: Week 17 - Wednesday When I woke up the next morning, Jerri was still lying on me. As I remember it, Jerri was straddling me when we came at the same time, them nothing until I woke up. I tried to roll her to the side without waking her, which didn't work. In fact, she beat me to the bathroom.

Leaving the bathroom I found Cindy was in bed with Jerri. I gave them both a kiss and Cindy said, "I forgot to tell you that they are planning to let Aunt Alice out of the hospital on Friday if she has somewhere to go."

"It will not be terribly private but we could set up a hospital bed in the study," suggested Jerri.

"Oh I was hoping someone could suggest something because I think it would be much nicer if she came here. I would also like to have Mildred come and care for Aunt Alice here. I think that will allow Aunt Alice to accept being here much easier!" explained Cindy.

"I can start using Wayne's office during the day. I need to be able to spread out and start transferring the assets into our name." I stated.

Jerri looked at me and said, "That's a good idea and we can also store the items we are going to keep in the empty bedrooms of the office instead of here in the apartment."

"That is a good idea, I can pack up some of the stuff in the study and store it there also." stated Cindy.

"Just pack up the items we want to move, not stuff we intend to get rid of. I will try to help you this afternoon if you would like?" stated Jerri.

Cindy agreed and then we got up, showered, and dressed. At breakfast, I asked the wives if they thought we should become a corporation. This met with some discussion and we decided that we would form an S-type corporation; I would be the CEO and they would be members of the board. Jerri suggested we look at Nevada or Delaware to set up the corporation. I asked why and for the next ten minutes got thoroughly confused.

The long and short of it was that Delaware and Nevada doesn't require the officer to be listed publicly nor do they charge state income tax. In addition, if you set it up as an S-type corporation the corporation does not pay tax the state passes the taxes on to the shareholders so the income is only taxed once or at least that is how I understand it. I would let Jerri and better-trained individuals worry about that.

Just as I was finishing my second cup of coffee, Susan and Pat left for work and April followed them. The doorbell rang half way through my third cup of coffee and Cindy went to answer it. Selma entered the kitchen looking upset. "Jerri you cannot sell me the condo like you said yesterday. You will be losing money!"

"Good morning, Selma, don't worry about it and I will reimburse Jerri for any money she will lose. You helped put a stop to Morris and Robert and deserve a reward." I stated. Selma looked from me to Jerri and back then seemed undecided on what to say next. "Selma, you stood by me and let me know things that were happening in the office and I truly appreciated that fact. You saved me from a lot of trouble, several times. We have not gone through all of Wayne's papers so I don't know if I even own your apartment in truth. Let's wait and see what we can find out!" We had been working for about two and half hours when Selma said, "Jerri, Bob! Here is an addendum to Wayne's Will!"

Selma brought it over to the table and attached to it was an envelope addressed to me. I opened it and read. Dear Bob,

Please apologize to Jerri for the way I have done this addendum and kept it secret from her. I did not want Robert or Morris to get wind of it. Therefore, I took a copy of my will to a friend of mine and he helped me write this addendum.

Since I have been sick, I have been doing what you do. Find short- term projects and investments. Between my friends and myself I found many projects; I made a sizable amount of money along the way, which no one knows about except for the IRS of course.

Please note I have included a few people I had forgotten about in my original will. I trust that you will take care of this for me.

Thank-you

Wayne

After that, we had a good starting point and found other documents, which made the job much easier. By 5 PM we had a good process set up. Jerri and I had talked and figured it would take us at least two weeks to settle most of it and maybe longer, depending on what requirements and/or obligations were attached to some of the contracts.

Two of the nicest things we had found out during the afternoon were that Wayne had given the condo Selma lived in to her and Juan; his cabin in the Poconos went to Max Zoravich and his wife Judith. The biggest surprise of the afternoon was to find out that John Wayne Hampton had been associated with Wayne since he quit working at the law firm!

Wayne had set John up in his own business and many of Wayne's current projects ran through John. There was a complete list of the projects and suggestions on how to handle them in the future. Wayne had assumed that I would like to close or sell off most of the property and the suggestions were how best to do that. Jerri called her firm and arranged for Selma to work with us one more day. Juan was due home shortly and with Jerri's agreement, I gave Selma $200.00 as a bonus for the last two days and suggested that she and Juan go out and celebrate their ownership of the condo. Selma seemed taken aback by our suggestion.

When Jerri pointed out that, their rent was going down to just taxes and association fees. Selma finally realized what had happened, and gave us both a hearty hug before saying she would see us in the morning as she left for the day.

During our walk to the elevator and ride up to our condo, we decided to contact John Hampton in the morning. After dinner, we told everybody but April, who was at the hospital, what we had found today. After some discussion, we agreed to continue with John Hampton making/handling our investments.

Jerri suggested that we go ahead and set the corporation up in Nevada and everyone was in agreement with this as long as we visited Las Vegas. What a way to make business decisions! Jerri must have thought it was funny too; with a straight face she said, "Although the corporation is in Nevada, funds from the corporation can not be spent in Nevada!"

The looks she received were priceless and I almost fell out of my chair laughing, which gave the whole thing away. Next, Cindy changed the subject by saying, "The hospital bed and oxygen would be delivered tomorrow. Are we ready to move stuff in the morning to the empty bedrooms in the office?"

Jerri said, "I will call some packers first thing tomorrow and make arrangements to have the items we want moved, packed and stored as soon as possible."

"Susan, can they pack up your stuff or do you need more time?" I asked.

"No, I have given away most of my stuff except what I want to keep. Packing it up would be great. Pat, aren't you at the same point?"

"Yes I am, I was thinking of moving it out of my apartment this weekend!"

"I don't know about April, but I can check with her later. Would it be better to have them pack it into a moving container instead of the apartment if they stored it in a climate controlled warehouse?" asked Cindy.

"I think that would be a good idea. We will not have to move it or worry about it again until we are in Albuquerque." I stated.

Cindy went to the hospital about 9 PM. I found out they were using April's Blazer to travel back and forth thus saving on parking. Susan and April spent the night with me, with Pat and Jerri joining us sometime during the night. There was no way I could get up in the morning to use the bathroom with out waking someone else up too.

Time Frame: Week 17 - Thursday April, when asked at breakfast, informed us that she was ready to move out of her old apartment at any time. Jerri ended up calling Allied and they agreed to our request. They would pack the study this afternoon, Pat's on Friday, Susan, and Aprils on Monday. April having agreed to be our contact person would be at each location during the packing. At 9 AM, we called John Hampton at his office and made an appointment to see him at noon for lunch. Lunch took two hours with John returning with us to Wayne's office. He had said he would help us but didn't want any pay in return because he felt he owed it to Wayne and Jerri. Of course, we disagreed and told him.

We decided to discuss it further after showing John what we were trying to do. Halfway through John looked at us and said, "I knew that Wayne had been investing but to be truthful, I only knew of about a third of these. Are you sure you want my help?"

"John we are setting up a corporation and can move assets into it. We do not want to dismantle everything Wayne built. Only the parts that it makes sense to get rid of for one reason or another. One category I would think we should divest ourselves of is rental property because we will be too far away to manage it well." stated Jerri.

"John, you were trusted by Wayne and by Jerri here. I can't think of any better recommendation. Let's do it this way; let's start placing each item into one of four categories. The first is can it be sold immediately without causing hardship to anyone or losing money. The second category is can be sold off within a short time without causing a hardship or losing money. The third category is that we will lose money or cause a hardship if we sell now, with the last category being this is a great investment and we should continue to hold on to it." I stated.

"Okay, I can help you with that but what about the items that need managing locally?" asked John

"When we set up the corporation, we will make arrangements, which will allow you to manage our interests here for us," explained Jerri.

"Between Cindy, Jerri, and myself, I think we can reasonably leave you between a quarter to one million dollars for investment, not counting the assets that are already in place and can't be moved at this time." I stated.

"I am not sure that this is a good idea. You could be hurt by bad investments or ripped off though mismanagement. I can not guarantee you that I can spend all my time watching out for you." explained John.

"That is one reason we want you. You haven't thought of yourself once, only what is best for us. I think, the way to prevent us from being ripped off, is to use an outside auditor coupled with the fact that your pay will only be a percentage of the net profit." I explained.

"I think we would be willing to keep investing with you as long as a decent profit is made each year. I would like at least 10% net profit of the total amount money invested per year as a minimum amount." stated Jerri, "And in addition, you could start at 5% of the net profit and work up to 10% depending on the net profits and for net profits over 20% it will be split 50-50 between us!"

"Do you realize I have been making between 25 and 32% profit over the last three years?" asked John.

"Yes, I am aware of that and it is one reason I recommended you to Bob!" stated Jerri.

The result was, I think we had enticed a great person to come work for us in the future. John would let us know the following day after discussing it with his wife. When Jerri found out John was married she insisted that we go out to dinner Saturday night.

By the time, we returned to the apartment, the study was packed and the movers were carting the boxes out. The hospital bed had been installed back from the doorway and the shelves arranged to provide some privacy. A TV had been placed so it could be seen from the bed and from the recliners which been moved to form a nice area for visiting.

When I asked about the recliners and TV, I was told that they had them picked up from Aunt Alice's room and brought here for her. I knew these touches would make it a lot easier on Aunt Alice. Cindy walked in while I was talking to April, which surprised me, because I thought she was with Aunt Alice. Cindy said, "Mildred is staying with Aunt Alice until 9 PM tonight and will be here everyday once Aunt Alice moves in!"

Time Frame: Week 17 - Friday Aunt Alice was released from the hospital about mid morning, and she arrived shortly before noon. I gave her a hug and welcomed her to the condo then made an escape to the Wayne's office to allow her time to get settled. Jerri called me a half hour later to come up and have lunch with them.

Aunt Alice was beaming as she sat at the table eating her soup for lunch. You could see her wilt during lunch and Mildred said, "Alice this is your first time out of bed in a long time, let's not over do it!" and setting action to words stood up and helped Aunt Alice to the study.

Once Aunt Alice was out of the room, Cindy said, "Aunt Alice wanted to eat lunch here so much, she refused to lay down until after she had eaten. I think being here will be good for her but I hope she doesn't over do it."

"I don't think she will, but I do feel she will get out of bed to eat at least one meal a day with us. I think meal time is special to her," stated Jerri.

I had just returned to the office, when John called. He had discussed our offer with his wife and for now he stated, "I'd be willing to help you sort out Wayne's affairs and manage anything that is not cashed in or transferred right away." John would not make a full commitment to us saying, "Let's see how this works out before we make further plans!"

When I returned to the apartment about six o'clock, everyone was there and Mildred was about to leave. I checked in with everybody after wishing Mildred a good night. Dinner was a delicious, New England Pot Roast served over noodles. I found out it was Aunt Alice's favorite and Mildred had prepared it especially for her.

After dinner, Cindy and I spent a half-hour in the study talking to Aunt Alice. I could tell the day had been hard on her because she kept nodding off. I excused myself after wishing her good night and went to the living room.

Pat and Susan wanted to go out and celebrate their last day at work. They wanted to go to Manayunk Brewery and listen to the music. Jerri agreed and said she would like to go along with us. Now I hadn't agreed to this, but I did go along with it since they all seemed eager to go.

Time Frame: Week 17 - Saturday & Sunday Dinner Saturday night was with John Hampton and his wife Elizabeth (Beth). Beth took an immediate liking to my wives. In fact, it was a little disconcerting when all five women decide to go to the restroom together, leaving John and I sitting there by ourselves for over 15 minutes. When the women returned; we were informed that we would be taking them dancing after dinner.

While we were dancing, we had problems with one person and just about the time, I had enough and about to do something, the management of the club approached and asked the individual to leave. Of course, he had to refuse, so they escorted him to the door and I presume asked him not to return for the tonight. Unfortunately, he did not show good sense and was waiting for us when we came out. John and I placed ourselves between women and the man as we saw him approaching. We exchanged words but before it could escalate, Club Security arrived. One of them was an off-duty police officer who made the arrest for public drunkenness and said we were free to go. The officer did not ask for or record our names. Jerri said that was to our benefit since this would leave no official record that the individual could use to track us in the future. Sunday we spent talking and visiting with Aunt Alice when she was awake. Mildred was a blast and insisted that she be the cook. I could understand why Aunt Alice and Mildred had become such good friends to the point it far exceeded the normal employee-employer relationship.

Time Frame: Weeks 18, 19 and 20 Since my wives had quit their individual jobs, we had made quite a bit of headway with Wayne's estate. I spent the entire day working on Wayne's estate. Jerri and either, April or Cindy, would work with me in the morning. In the afternoon, it was Pat or Susan along with John. We had made good headway, and had all the investments sorted into one of the four different categories. Most of the work was straightforward. We did come across three companies that Wayne was on the Board of Directors. One of them even had him listed as the elected Chairman of the Board. I asked Jerri to check that company out and see how they were doing.

Aunt Alice was a live wire as far as her health permitted. When she found out that I played pinochle, she organized Cindy and I to teach the others. She and Mildred were the champions for a while then Susan and I started to win quite regularly. The surprise was that April and Jerri, who just learned together became good players and partners thereby giving everybody a run for their money.

Time Frame: Week 21 - Friday Aunt Alice's health seemed to be declining during the last week. No one wanted to admit it but she was sleeping more and had less energy. Susan prevailed on one of her semi-retired doctor friends to make a house call on Aunt Alice. Dr. Franks had already done his homework before the visit; and knew Aunt Alice's history. After Dr. Franks finished his exam, he had a short talk with Aunt Alice, then asked us to join him in the living room.

First, he said, "I asked Mrs. Miller if she wanted to return to the hospital and she refused flatly and would not even discuss it! I am going to adjust her medication but it will do little good and I doubt it will increase the time she has left."

Cindy asked, "How much longer?"

"Between one and two weeks would be my guess."

Then he dropped the other shoe; "Your Aunt has requested that I stop all medication with the exception of pain medication!"

At first, there was stunned silence, then a babble of voices. Dr. Franks held up his hand and said, "At this point, the medication is providing little help, if any, and may be causing quite a bit of discomfort. I agreed with her request and I hope you will support the reduction in medication and her desire to stay here!"

"We have no problem with that, and if you will provide us with the names of a couple nurses, we will hire them also." I stated.

"That would be good, but I think you will see a little improvement over the next couple of days, then when she starts to have problems again, I would hire a nurse. I may be wrong but from her history and the records I saw from the hospital, Alice has already outlived many predictions," stated Dr. Franks.

We talked for a little more and he told us what to expect towards the end. His plan was to provide her enough pain pills to let her live the last few days as painlessly as possible. Dr. Franks planned to check back with us in three days time.

Time Frame: Week 21 - Saturday and Sunday Saturday saw Aunt Alice sleep most of the day and by Sunday afternoon; she was ready to eat dinner with us. After dinner, we played one game of pinochle before retiring for the night. As we walked to the living room Cindy commented to Susan, "I guess those drugs were doing more harm than good."

"No Cindy, they are good drugs but when the body gets so run down, sometimes the drugs are too strong for the body to handle and that can cause problems. In this case, when there is little to be gained, it is better for the person to live out their lives in as much comfort as possible." Susan said thoughtfully.

This caused a discussion and we all agreed we need to have a document drawn up specifying to what extent, when, and who was responsible for us if we were incapacitated. Susan and Pat both agreed to do research on the latest information regarding different procedures to prolong life. Jerri said she would look into the legal aspects for both New Mexico and any other state in case we were severely injured in our travels. I think that seeing Aunt Alice dying had changed how we felt and looked at life to a certain extent. I know from my own experience, I never had a will, would not have thought about it now except for my own brush with death and now watching Aunt Alice.

Time Frame: Week 22 - Monday Late Monday afternoon, Dr. Franks returned. Aunt Alice greeted him like a long lost friend. They talked for a while, then invited us in for a card game. Aunt Alice introduced Dr. Ben Franks as Ben and proudly claimed she went to college with him. Ben stated he also knew both Robert and Wayne having taken classes with them at college.

I am not sure who won the game, it turned into a social event with much laughter and joking taken place. Ben assured Aunt Alice that he would check in on her daily and Aunt Alice telling him it was not necessary but seemed mighty pleased with his attention. Ben stayed for dinner then told us "Aunt Alice was doing better than I expected. Last time I was here Alice did not fully recognize me, but this time she did and confirmed everything we talked about."

"Are you saying she was unable to make sound judgment calls last time you were here?" asked Jerri.

"No, not at all, I'm stating that her ability to recall long term memories was impaired last time and that I reconfirmed the choices Alice made last time." replied Ben.

"Ben, I called you because you are semi-retired. Is coming here each day going to be too hard on you?" asked Susan.

"No, I'm retired now and to tell you the truth it's good to practice a bit again and it's even better to be able to help an old friend. There seems to be fewer and fewer of them with each passing month now," explained Ben.

Ben stayed a little longer and then left. Cindy and April asked if they could spend the night with me. After the news, we retired for the day. It turned out that Cindy was worried that our lifestyle was bothering Aunt Alice. When I ask how she knew this, I was informed that when April and her had broached the subject with Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice told them it was none of her business as long as they were happy. I finally ended up agreeing to talk to Aunt Alice if the chance came up. Somehow, I knew that if the chance did not come up they would make sure that it did.