Borrowing on a Permenant Basis

I recall when I was around three or four years old, which was long before anyone ever heard of Alzheimer’s Disease, there was an old Polish woman that lived next door to us who would let herself into neighboring homes to rummage for bacon, butter and eggs. She went from house to house and I never saw her return with any of the items she requested. She always managed to find her way home.

I recall my mother explaining to me that I should never let her in and that she had a condition know (at that time) as “Hardening of the Arteries”. I recall my mother being upset that we now had to lock our doors to keep this woman from wandering in at any time, day or night. There was very little that could be done. There were no assisted living facilities back then. There was only a mental ward at the County Hospital.

This was in the 50s when not only did no one lock their doors, but every one left the keys in the ignition of their cars.

Twenty years later I bought that house from my parents and it was then that I found the truth about the family that lived next door. Not only was the old lady a petty thief and had always been one, but her husband would take anything that was not nailed down. I recall them having a nicely appointed walkway on the side of their house. I found out the flat marble stones were grave markers the old man had stolen from the cemetery.

They were both long dead by the time I purchased the house next door; however their daughter was still living there. The daughter felt entitled to poach anything that wasn’t nailed down as well. I recall a couple trips I took and came back to find my water bill had gone from the normal $15 a month to well over $100. This woman must have been watering 24 hours a day in my absence. I only wish I could have seen the disappointment on her face the next time I went away and she found I turned the water off from inside the house.