December 20 2006

A holiday bouquet for everyone! Update regarding the post November 28 Social Security - I guess Hell did freeze over, I just missed it. The Social Security office has sent a final payment to our account, and sent us a letter (about a week later) to say they were going to do this. And why should anyone care? First, it's a rare and happy moment to get real closure on any dealing with any bureaucracy. And second, more important to my vast and ever-expanding readership out there (almost up to double digits!), this proves that my original assumption that it was not legal for the government to just take whatever funds were left in someone's account, was true. Unfortunately we have had too many friends who have lost parents this year, and, as one might expect at such a sad and stressful time, the last thing a grieving child needs is to go head to head with a governmental agency. But I do encourage any of you out there who have the energy to pursue this matter to do so. We were told very clearly at the time of my mother-in-law's death, and subsequently, by more than one bureaucrat, that there were no benefits to surviving children - yet, lo and behold, it turns out that's not true. Apparently this is a very well-kept secret. At least no one I spoke to about it seemed to think otherwise.