On Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:01:41 -0400, Casper wrote:

A long time ago, I sold a Craftsman 8" tablesaw to a friend for a song. It
was a saw that my dad had bought when he was building our house, and it had
made its way to my garage over the years. I had always regretted selling it
instead of just giving it to my own son. Well... said friend is in the
process of divorcing his wife and preparing to clear out of Dodge. In
conversation with him, I offered to buy the saw back for whatever price he
wanted - just because I wanted to pass it on to my son. Low and behold, he
says "No Way!" - "I'll just load the saw into my truck and take it over and
give it to your son - that's how it should be".

I know - it's kind of a dumb little story, but it's pretty big for me.
Mike Marlow

That's a great story Mike. It's really the way things should be and I
am glad to hear when it happens.

Last year my father-in-law passed away. He had cancer, started in his
bladder and spread quickly. From September to March and gone. We did
what we could to help him; emotionally, physically and financially.

After he passed, we sought to gather our things from his farm, but his
second wife would not hear of it. We managed to get our 1983 popup
camper but she kept and sold everything else.

I can live with the loss of tools given to me from my own father, but
I felt, and still feel, badly that my husband could not get anything
from his father, not even old photos. I do not nor ever will
understand the greed that some people suffer.

I hope your son gets many years of use from your saw.

We had a situation sorta the reverse of that. My MIL got remarried and the
two of them spent a decade ****ing away every cent they had, including the
proceeds from her house and mortgaged his to the hilt (both were free and
clear before). When she passed away the kids on the other side were mad at us
for getting everything (we let them take anything they wanted of his, out of
the house - and they took more). "Everything" was just about enough to cover
the expenses. We were stuck cleaning out the house and making the repairs
necessary to sell it (not a trivial thing, living 1000 miles away).