Word: wittstock
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...Kathleen Wittstock's two younger sisters always considered her their parents' favorite--and the only one who could stand up to their formidable mother. So they probably weren't surprised when Wittstock, 65, a retired teacher in Medina, Ohio, persuaded her ailing parents to move nearby so she could look after them. Sometimes Wittstock secretly wished her sisters, who lived in Texas and Kentucky, would help more, but she also confessed that the task was easier without them--less drama for her to deal with...
...easier for all of us," she explains, "if we came to that conclusion together." And that's when the wounds of childhood really divided them. The youngest sister--described as the peacemaker--could not bear the rage her mother was sure to feel. "My sister had a fantasy," Wittstock says, "that Mom would get better and that she could take Mom to lunch and buy her pretty things...
...took four years and 15 police reports before the youngest sister gave in and agreed that Kathleen should become their mother's guardian. Wittstock assumed guardianship in 2004. By that time, their mother was living alone and unkempt in her condo with no food in the house and the gas turned off. Now Mom is safely ensconced in an assisted-living home, and Wittstock is proud of what she accomplished with her sisters. "Our relationships are not always great," she says, "but we work...
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