Chapter 12 - Theresa Had to Explain Every Dollar
Lucy’s attorney demanded:
an accounting.
Not because we assumed every dollar I sent belonged legally to:
Lucy.
Some transfers were simply money I sent my mother with vague instructions.
Others were clearly labeled:
Lucy medical / household
or:
treatment + insurance
or:
for Lucy only.
Theresa also held Lucy’s limited power of attorney.
That created separate fiduciary duties regarding:
Lucy’s own accounts,
insurance reimbursements,
certain payments she managed.
The review separated:
my money,
Lucy’s money,
Theresa’s authorized expenses,
misuse.
Important.
Anger does not turn every transfer into:
theft.
The accounting found clear unauthorized or inadequately supported diversions involving approximately:
$47,000
from funds specifically intended for Lucy or handled under Theresa’s authority.
Other spending was:
messier.
Shared household costs.
Transportation.
Food.
Caregiving expenses.
Not every dollar could or should be recovered.
Theresa initially said:
“I deserved reimbursement.”
Her lawyer advised her to stop speaking casually.
Good advice.
The necklace was simpler.
Lucy asked for it back.
Theresa refused once.
Then her attorney returned it in:
a padded envelope.
Lucy opened the box.
Held the hummingbird in:
her palm.
Did not put it on.
For months.
She said:
“It smells like her perfume.”
I understood why she needed:
time.
The criminal process around the slap and financial conduct moved separately from the civil accounting.
There was no instant:
prison.
Police interviewed:
me,
Lucy,
Theresa.
Medical records documented Lucy’s vulnerability and interrupted care.
Bank records documented:
transactions.
The power-of-attorney terms mattered.
So did intent.
Theresa eventually accepted responsibility for assaulting Lucy and for specific financial misuse.
Her age.
No prior criminal history.
Restitution.
Cooperation.
All mattered.
The final resolution included:
probation,
restitution,
financial restrictions relating to Lucy,
and no unsupervised contact.
Some relatives said:
“She cared for Lucy for months.”
True.
Others said:
“She stole from a cancer patient.”
Also partly true.
Human beings become uncomfortable when two facts survive at once.
Theresa had genuinely cared for Lucy.
Then resentment, fear, favoritism, and entitlement corrupted:
care.
The early good did not erase:
the later harm.
The later harm did not require us to pretend the early good never happened.
Accountability was accurate enough without:
May you like
rewriting history.
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