My daughter-in-law laughed as she gave me a $2 scratch-off for my 73rd birthday. Ten months later, my own son shoved a senior living brochure in front of me and said, “We already picked your room.” They thought I was too old to fight back. They had no idea what I had been hiding.

He also reminded them of the existing lease terms and requested that nobody interfere with my access to financial records or contact my doctors without authorization.

For a week, there was no answer.

Then Colin called.

“Mom, did you really hire another lawyer to threaten us?”

“No, I hired a lawyer to answer a letter Jessica’s lawyer sent me.”

He sounded stunned.

“She said she was just checking the paperwork.”

“Then she should be happy to have a complete set.”