Replies to '04/14 The Dr. Phil House: House of Greed'

Quote From: mommio01

I became an  orphan at the age of sixteen and knew my dad had a will written up with the help of my mom's sister and my dad's brother.  Dad did this because I was the only living child under the age of consent and my brothers were married and all had children.  Now from my experience is that the day dad died six months from the day my mom died I was terrified to show anyone the will because I felt it would cause hurtful feelings and the green eyed monster would take over my family.  Since dad was an alcholic my brothers too having the same disease, felt this was wrong since one of my brothers was incarcerated and his family of three children and wife should benifit by my parents life long savings.  It was not the amount because it was such a minor amount that I came to the conclusion many years later that it's that hurt a child feels when a parent chooses one over the other.  Thats the real problem!  We all want to be SPECIAL  in our parents eyes.  By my dad writing a will my older brother was relieved dad had taken my future seriousely and he was named my guardian, which made him feel important.  Brother number two was angry and in jail, and  brother number three felt slighted since he moved in with me and dad after mom died and his family could have used some help.  To end my story is that I attended college and moved out on my own and tried hard to put all this behind me with a very important lesson learned. My husband and I both experienced the same losses and have learned how important it is to write things down and to speak openly to our children about such issues.  Unfortunately, one of our two sons was tragically killled at age fourteen.  My other son feels devastated and would give anything to have his brother back. Again families need to act like families and help each other when a love one dies. AMEN!!  Keep up the good work Dr. Phil.