A bit of a damper on my Christmas celebrations

That's really sad to hear. Perhaps the family did not have your contact information or might have lost it. I'm sure your friend is enjoying himself in heaven, smiling at his family and friends. I have a similar experience where a good friend of mine passed away few weeks before his birthday without me knowing until the day of the birthday. Sad times..

Like things getting from bad to worse. I emailed an aunt of mine to wish the family merry christmas. She come back to say that her husband, my dad's only brother, had passed away in March! The woman say she forget to tell me.

My take is that on this all your friends and relatives are avoiding you like the plague . Has it occurred to you that you may be the problem ?

Since I get rich from my business I have had people getting upset with me for not showering them with free money. But it is each man's duty to earn his own living and hang on to his money. Money for nothing, sex for free. That's actually a porn flick with that English/Indian chick Rashneen Karim Koran.

Watooka, way things looking : NO one will show up for your  Funeral  :-[

better start sponsoring some parties and treat your relative and friends with food and booze.

... and therein lies the answer . I am not judgmental but any  one here will conclude  that your obsession with money and wealth has led you to sacrifice relationships with friends and relatives.

Watooka , it is appropriate at this time that you read Charles Dickens " A Christmas carol"

I am not obsessed with money. I used the majority of what I had to pay off my house (look up how much a house cost in London and you will get a rough idea of how much I am likely to have had to fork out on that). The rest I used to do some repairs on my property, and to put money in the bank for the kids so that they could afford to go to university. But as we Guyanese know, when people see you have a successful business they think you have to grease their palms with some money. I didn't go begging anyone for money when I was barely able to feed myself. And neither do I envy the ones who made it through legal means. But I have no intention of being a charity.

Charity begins at Home : with family and good friends.

You need a New Years Resolution, mate !