A most difficult thread- helping a friend, Bill Hedin

[Ladder7]

Who the Hell are we to judge. I'd be a freakin' basket case in his shoes.

If Bill wants to use some of the $ to purchase cards, gold or sprockets as a nest egg for the kids, I'm all for that. My donation wasn't exclusively for his beloved's burial. But any ancillary family purchases Bill deems necessary, without restriction.

Heck, many of us have made sports "investments" under the premise they could be liquidated as an emergency fund, college expenses etc. It's not any different than throwing it into a passbook account.

There is no rehearsal for this thing. I implore you guys to please let this now single father grieve as he sees fit. Thanks

[wolf441]

Originally Posted by Ladder7

Who the Hell are we to judge. I'd be a freakin' basket case in his shoes.

If Bill wants to use some of the $ to purchase cards, gold or sprockets as a nest egg for the kids, I'm all for that. My donation wasn't exclusively for his beloved's burial. But any ancillary family purchases Bill deems necessary, without restriction.

Heck, many of us have made sports "investments" under the premise they could be liquidated as an emergency fund, college expenses etc. It's not any different than throwing it into a passbook account.

There is no rehearsal for this thing. I implore you guys to please let this now single father grieve as he sees fit. Thanks

+1. Well said.

[kkkkandp]

I have never met Bill, but based on his posts on the board I got the impression (rightly or wrongly) that his financial situation was not as good as mine. That is not to say I am rolling in dough, but, as my wife often reminds me when I complain about our family finances, we are better off than many.

With that in mind, I made a "decent" donation to the memorial fund. Without a self-aggrandizing post. As others have also said, there were no strings attached, but the mental image I had was that the donations - all of them - would go to something, if not directly to the funeral expenses, more meaningful than baseball cards.

I completely agree that people grieve in different ways. It's often why people laugh without control at a funeral. So, I can completely understand buying "a couple" of baseball cards in the week after your wife passes away, but I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around spending $1200 on them.

Whatever. My donation was made with the best intention. And I'm not in any position to judge how it is used. You need to pay the piper, however, sooner or later.