There are 6 siblings. My husband and one brother live on the farm. All were given the same opportunity as we were to live here. One sister got her 2 acres, built, then sold the house and one acre and moved into a condo. My mother in law was a wonderful woman and would never openly criticize her children but she was hurt. On top of it all, she sold the land while mother was very sick and then criticized us if she felt we were not at mother's house everyday.
My husband and the one brother, myself, and my sister in law have always taken care of everything for her. My husband farmed the land for 2 years (after a full time job) without ever putting a penny in his pocket and the shop expenses being paid by us. We did this to help her and never expected anything. Up until last year my husband and brother in law farmed the land and paid the others rent. My nephew farms it now.
The oldest brother - the executor of the estate - has always been laid back about it but the pressure from his sisters I think is getting the best of him.
The oldest sister that built and moved is a very selfish and greedy person. Of course she has more money than she'll ever know what to do with, but doesn't want anyone else to have something she doesn't.
One sister has always been jealous of my brother in law that lives here. The only reason I can think of is his kids kept her yard, worked hard, and spent more time with grandmother than any of the others. That niece wanted to buy the home place, even offered to put something in writing she'd never sell, but it wasn't good enough. If anyone deserved the house she did. And whatever older sister wants is right by her.
The last sister is a loving woman, retired, grandmother, and they live on her husbands family farm and sure don't need the money. Her son is the one farming our land now. But again, what the other sister wants she supports. She offered to take the home place after mother's death as her part and sell to our niece but since older sister didn't like it, it wasn't done.
Unfortunately, we made two of the sisters very mad when in 1998, with the blessing of mother, my husband and brother in law built a couple of pullet houses. Of course, trying to be considerate of everyone we built them next to brother in law at the very end of the farm. We built a burm around it, planted trees and shrubs, and you can't even tell what it is from the road and can barely see them from my house. Now these are breeder birds we are contracted to raise, and it's such a high tech facility that we have to shower before we go in and even dust the feed room. We went into debt $450,000.00 to build them. Thankfully they are paid for now and it must not be too unsightly as they built several houses across the road from them. I want say what the older sister said she'd rather see here instead of the pullet houses. I've tried to tell her it's a farm. All she see's are dollar signs. Now I wish I had of built them behind my house in the middle of the farm.
We watched our children grow up here. I watched my children as they walked thru the field to grandmother's. And later road their dirt bike just to be with this precious woman. She loved this place. Even as sick as she was before dying she'd have us sit her on the porch so she could look out at what all her hard work had accomplished.
My children have always talked about building here and how they'd build a shop in between their homes (we tractor pull - their time now), or a barn for horses when they married. I have invisioned my grandchildren walking to my house as they did their grandmother's. Again, we always assumed their would be no problem. It just goes to show you need to make sure everything is taken care of and clarified before someone dies.
I know business is business. I would understand more so if they were hard up for cash. Maybe, lol. Shoot, my family needs the money more so than anyone, yet I don't want to sell. I don't understand a family that can turn their back on something that was so precious to their mother. I don't understand a family that doesn't consider each other. And, as I said, the farm will be worth much more in a few years.
As I said earlier I'm begging for at least 5 acres to be left but they will be afraid we'll sell it and make more on it than them. And to be honest, I don't know if I could live here and watch the destruction of such a lovely place. I can look out at this minute and see the deer come out from the woods to graze. All I see out my back door is a green field surrounded by trees. It's beautiful. We've never shut our blinds, lol. Can you imagine looking out and seeing bulldozers, and builders, and houses going up after all these years? Sickening. What's happened to family? To the pride of having something passed down from generation to generation. Has greed taken over our country or is it just this family?
