Family members say they were shut out

Editor’s note: Investigative journalist Diane Dimond, whose weekly syndicated column on crime and justice appears in the Journal, is preparing a book on the nation’s elder guardianship system. It’s a system designed to protect the elderly from the unscrupulous. But as Dimond discovered, it can be dominated by a core group of court-appointed, for-profit professionals who are accused of isolating family members and draining the elders’ estates. New Mexico is no exception.

---

This is the third installment of a five-part Albuquerque Journal series:  WHO GUARDS THE GUARDIANS?

---

Blair and her husband, Clarence “Casey” Darnell, loved horses. They met in the late 1950s when Blair, a handsome, vibrant transplant from New Orleans, attended the University of New Mexico’s anthropology program.

She and her 2-year-old daughter, Kris, visited the Darnell stables to buy a horse. But after the animal tossed Blair, she took it back, demanding that Casey break the horse or give her a refund.

Casey, a World War II bomber pilot, was smitten by Blair’s spirit. They married at a friend’s North Valley home on Jan. 27, 1958. Casey adopted little Kris, and the couple started their own family on the 17-acre Darnell ranch nestled in the bosque (near what is now Coors and Paseo del Norte), where champion quarter horses were raised and trained. They had three children on that ranch: Cliff, Emily and Mary, in that order.

“My mother was active in 4-H and took in lots of wayward kids to come work the ranch,” Mary Darnell recalls. “My dad was vice president of the American Quarter Horse Association and was inducted into the Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2009.” Casey Darnell died in August 2001.

ABOVE RIGHT: Casey Darnell and his children sometime in the 1960s.
Clockwise from right, Mary, Emily, Cliff and Kris Darnell. TOP LEFT:
A few of the trophies and awards the Darnell horses accumulated over
the years. BOTTOM LEFT: Blair Darnell remained active until her later
years. Here, she returned to New Orleans to mark the 50th anniversary of
being crowned “Queen of Proteus.” INSET: Casey Darnell
(Courtesy of the Darnell Family)

Not long after her husband passed away, Blair was kicked by a horse and hit her head on a railroad tie when she fell. She was unconscious for about 30 minutes, but in her tough cowgirl fashion, refused medical treatment. In later years, Mary came to believe their mother’s forgetfulness was a byproduct of a brain bleed suffered during that accident.

Brother Cliff remembers he and his half-sister, Kris Darnell-Kreger, taking their mother to a doctor in 2005 or 2006 and being told she displayed early signs of dementia, not Alzheimer’s. Nevertheless, no one denied Blair was having cognitive difficulties in her later years and needed assistance.

Emily and Mary say they were more than willing to help care for their mother but say they were shut out after Kris got the court involved. Kris Darnell-Kreger has declined several requests to be interviewed for this story.

Under the Uniform Probate Code, proceedings in elder guardianship cases are sequestered, meaning none of the parties is allowed to speak about the case.

But the Journal has learned that on Jan. 6, 2010, a petition was filed in the court of Judge Beatrice Brickhouse by attorney Gregory MacKenzie on behalf of daughter, Kris. In it, he painted a dire picture of 78-year-old Blair Darnell’s situation. The petition accused Mary, her mother’s primary caregiver, of seriously neglecting her mother’s medical needs and “self-dealing” by directing her mother into questionable financial transactions. MacKenzie also accused Emily and Cliff of less serious actions that adversely affected their mother.

The next day, Judge Brickhouse granted the petition, appointed a temporary guardian/conservator, a so-called court visitor and a psychologist to perform a neuropsychological exam of Blair Darnell. She had not appeared before the judge but was immediately referred to in court documents as “an adult incapacitated person.” No hearing was ever held to determine whether any of the allegations against the adult children was true.

By Jan. 7, the system was in full motion and Blair Darnell would lose all ability to control the final years of her life.

In the original petition, Judge Brickhouse was told that Mary lived on the Darnells’ 17-acre ranch free of rent and owed her mother more than $200,000.  (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
Family members say they were shut out

See Also:
Who Guards the Guardians?  Part One

Who Guards the Guardians?  Part Two

100 Pieces of Advice from 100-Year-Olds

What’s the secret to a long and healthy life? All centenarians have their own habits and morning routines by which they swear. In July, the world's oldest woman—116-year-old Brooklynite Susannah Mushatt Jones—attributed her longevity to a daily dose of four strips of bacon. For 110-year-old Agnes Fenton, “three cans of Miller High Life a day and a shot of good booze at 5 p.m.” does the trick (Johnnie Walker Blue is her drink of choice). From daily naps to ice cream, here's what some very old people credit for their lengthy lifespan.

In 2011, Huffington Post interviewed a centenarian named Ruth. Since the age of 92, Ruth has committed to weekly Pilates classes. She also has a mean sense of style.

1. “Don’t look at the calendar. Just keep celebrating every day.”
2. “Invest in quality pieces, they never go out of style.”
3. “I make myself go out every day, even if it’s only to walk around the block. The key to staying young is to keep moving.”

NBC talked to a 100-year-old doctor who still ran his own practice. He had a few untraditional pieces of medical wisdom to share.

4. “Exercise, to me, is totally unnecessary. I think it’s mostly overrated.”
5. “The use of vitamins? Forget it. And I don’t encourage going to a lot of doctors, either.”
6. “Fall in love, get married. Sex is to be encouraged.”

This centenarian shared advice about love, forgiveness, and passion:

7. “Even if you feel hatred, keep it to yourself. Don’t hurt other people for any reason.”
8. “Don’t ever give up on love.”
9. “Nobody else controls you.”
10. “Make time to cry.”
11. "Travel while you’re young and able. Don’t worry about the money, just make it work. Experience is far more valuable than money will ever be.”
12. “Don’t compare. You’ll never be happy with your life. The grass is always greener.”
13. “If you are embarrassed to be dating someone, you should not be dating them.”
14. “Do one thing each day that is just for you.”
15. “Don’t be a cheapskate.”
16. “Forgive.”
17. “Find your passion and live it.”
18. “Most time things will figure themselves out.”
19. “Choose the right parents.”
20. “Have a pet. Life gets lonely sometimes. Pets are reminders of how we’re all living things.”
21. “I’m not saying you have to practice one religion or another, or not practice one religion or another… I’m just saying that you should figure out what you believe in and live it completely.”
22. “Learn to adapt.”
23. “Take time to mourn what you’ve lost.”

For Adrine Lee, the key to longevity lies in four simple steps:

24. “Keep going and never give up.”
25. “Make yourself walk.”
26. “I drink the faucet water.”
27. “Don’t just die all because you want to.”

And then there’s advice about how to find happiness.

28. “Life is fun. It’s all up to the person. Be satisfied. You don’t have to be ‘happy’ all the time, you need to be satisfied.”
29. “Love people. Find something to like about the person—it’s there—because we’re all just people.”

For others, the key is in education.

30. “Get a great education. That is something that no one can take away from you.”

One centenarian was interviewed by Jay Leno. She gave the following advice:

31. “Think positive.”
32. “Exercise every morning… I have a machine… it’s a cross between a rowing machine and a bicycle… [I do] 150, 200 [rows] every morning. I won’t leave my bedroom until I’ve done that.”

And then there are the 100-year-olds who are even more active than the average 20-year-old couch potato. This centenarian, an avid skier, had this to share with younger generations:

33. "Be active. I do things my way, like skiing when I’m 100. Nobody else does that even if they have energy. And I try to eat pretty correctly and get exercise and fresh air and sunshine.”
34. “If you’re positive you can get through it OK. When you think negatively, you’re putting poison on your body. Just smile. They say laughter is the best medicine there is.”

Sardinia, an island in Europe, is well known for its high proportion of centenarians. They offered their own advice about health and medicine.

35. “For years I would not take any medicines at all. I don’t think they do much, and lots of times the doctor is using you as a guinea pig.”
36. “Don’t die too early.”

A common trend among advice from 100-year-olds? Keep on truckin’.

37. “Just go ahead and do your thing no matter what.”
38. “You can involve yourself in local problems. There are all sorts of things that have to be tended to in the world.”
39. “Have lots of people in the house and lots of different kinds of people—young, old, black, white, people from all over the world. People have always energized me.”
40. “Just keep going.”

Many centenarians swear by exercise.

41. “I attribute my longevity to a great extent to walking, not being in the back of the car strapped down.”
42. “I’ve done almost everything that I know of: ballet, I’ve done tai chi. I’ve done yoga. I walked 4 miles a day. I stretched and flexed. I wrote the book.”

Other 100-year-olds believe in rock and roll lifestyles.

43. “I put my health down to whiskey and cigarettes. I only drink when I’m out, but my doctor said I wouldn’t be alive without them. I’m still alive, and I can lift my elbows—it’s great.”

This 100-year-old doctor had a treasure trove of advice for younger people.

44. “We all remember how as children, when we were having fun, we often forgot to eat or sleep. I believe that we can keep that attitude as adults, too. It’s best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.”
45. “For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk, and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on my work. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean meat.”
46. “There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65.”
47. “When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can’t cure everyone. So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery? I think music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.”
48. “To stay healthy always, take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.”
49. “My inspiration is Robert Browning’s poem 'Abt Vogler.' My father used to read it to me. It encourages us to make big art, not small scribbles. It says to try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch; the rest is beyond our vision but it is there in the distance.”
50. “Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it.”  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source: 
100 Pieces of Advice from 100-Year-Olds