Dial Down The Pressure

This is a terribly sad story. Kelly Catlin, a 23 year old who won an Olympic silver medal as a cyclist in 2016, killed herself last weekend in her dorm at Stanford. She was working on her masters in Computational Mathematics after majoring in Biomedical Engineering and Chinese at the University of Minnesota. Kelly suffered a concussion in January from a bike crash. She previously had tried to commit suicide in January but police found her in time. In the week before her death she wrote about balancing time and taking time for oneself in Velonews.

As the father of a 23 year old daughter, the father of a son who suffered a concussion two years ago while competing in cross country, and as a recreational cyclist, Kelly’s death hits particularly close. I have three quick points:

1. Take concussions seriously. Give the brain all the time it needs to heal. It might be a long time but that is relative.

2. Help your children manage internal pressure (although it seems Kelly put incredible pressure on herself to succeed) and relieve it as much as possible.  In the long run, it is likely not that important.

3. Hug your children tonight and tell them you love them.

Photo Credit:  Wil Matthews

License:  Fair Use/Educational (from linked article)

Mini-Me and Maximum Bill

Verne Troyer is the actor famous for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies. He committed suicide by alcohol poisoning in April. After ingesting the alcohol, he called 911 and told dispatchers he wanted to die. He was rushed to the hospital but died 3 weeks later. He left an estate valued at $150K. Just recently the hospital which treated him filed a claim against his estate for $360K.

Three small points:

1. In Ohio, a creditor has six months from the date of death to file a claim for payment against the estate. If the claim is not made, the estate does not have to pay the debt.
2. Debts must be paid before the beneficiaries receive any assets. Troyer's heirs will not receive anything from his estate.
3. If there are insufficient assets to pay debts, the debts die with the decedent. The heirs are not responsible for them.
4. No snark when someone commits suicide.

 Photo Credit:  REX/Shutterstock  
 License:  Fair Use/Education (from linked article)

Maraschino Marijuana

Arthur Mondella was the high living, third generation owner of a Brooklyn maraschino cherry family business.  When his business was being investigated for illegally dumping cherry juice onto the streets, investigators found a large marijuana grow room.  He then locked himself in his private bathroom and shot himself.

His will left 80% of his reported $8.5 million estate to his three daughters and the remaining 20% to his sister.  The will designated one of his daughters to serve as executrix.  The attorney who prepared the will lost it and offered a copy of it for probate.  While the will is being validated by the probate court, his ex-wife, a Russian mail order bride by her attorney's description, is opposing the appointment of his daughter as executrix on the grounds that she is not qualified to fill that role.

So many points that it is hard to focus only on the following:

1.  The individual designated as executor in a will is almost always appointed as executor by the court.  If a temporary executor is needed to operate a business, the individual designated as the executor would seem to be the best person to fill the role.

2.  I am not sure that a Russian mail order bride is the best person to challenge another's qualifications to serve as executor unless the position involves marketing.

3.  As profitable as marijuana growing might have been, Mr. Mondella might have missed his true calling.  The cherry juice in the street was causing neighborhood bees to turn red and produce cherry tainted honey.  The Whole Foods/Fresh Market base would have paid a premium for the legal production of  cherry flavored honey.  Heck, even Walmart customers would like the product if sufficiently discounted.