At what point does an adult woman listen to her adult children when the adult children have varying opinions? After Loren died, I updated my Will. I used our Lawyer again….again choosing to write a Will vs setting up a Trust. I ultimately was thinking of my child who is the assigned Executor. The Lawyer had pointed out how some Trusts have the potential to be troublesome after my future passing if any of my four children didn’t agree with my assigned Executor as to the time of when to sell property and the assets.

When I was in my early 20’s….just recently married to Loren who had his own Trucking Company operating out of McMinnville…my dad unexpectedly-to-me-at-least sold the grass seed farm I grew up on. Both of my brothers were called into the Ministry by that time…my dad could not run a large farm by himself. When Del Smith of Evergreen Helicopters came along and offered to buy the farm…my dad sold the place and moved out of the Hopewell area. I undoubtedly was heartbroken when he sold it. I was very attached to the house I had grown up in and loved the many acres that I had rode my horses on. You could say I had a love relationship with the area and the land. I grieved but I knew my boundaries and respected my dads decision.

At this point, I’m gearing up to put the property on the market. It can’t happen yet. Necessary projects must be done in Spring 2025.

I hurt for two of my four children. Two of the four are emotionally tied to the property and home that Loren and I have pioneered. The other two care about the property but have not had the emotional struggle about the proposed change. I would like nothing more than those two or all four of the kids buy the property and I move on to a smaller home elsewhere. I’m sure you all can think of many options for me to downsize…the land be kept..and the four kids keep it in the family. Many of those options have been discussed amongst us but at this point it’s still looking like I will sell the property to the public and leave.

This is yet one more time that I dislike being the person who has to make the big decision. Someone has to ….it falls on me while I am alive.

Boy, I feel sorry for the Principals, Superintendents, CEO’s, Head Pastors, Owners of Businesses who have multiple employees. I only feel sorry because the weight of decision-making often falls on them unless they have a Board of Directors to give extra guidance.

I guess you could say my Tax Accountant, CPA of multiple years is on my Board of Directors. The other key people have passed away.