Shame and Virtue: A True Story About Elderly Abuse

By Robert Torrey

THE GREATEST OF ALL IMPOSTORS

Once the purpose of using love to realize an objective has been satisfied, it is no longer of use. Exposed are a conniving ingenuity and an extraordinary capacity to deceive

...Helen, of course, was much too experienced to allow anyone to walk all over her. Cathy at one time told Helen, Your ninety years old Helen, you need to straighten up

Further, while stealing from Helen he allowed her to be verbally abused and physically assaulted by his partner. He saw nothing wrong that his own sister, a ninety one year old widow, was being assaulted by a person one hundred fifty pounds heavier and twenty three years younger

We have seventy years, and if we are strong we get eighty. Just how strong and blessed is Helen to reach ninety two. Her remaining years may be spent peacefully or in pain and sorrow. Only God knows how many more years she has and how they will be spent. We hope she, at least, reaches one hundred if not more

----from Shame and Virtue

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496911063

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© 2014 Robert Torrey. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/10/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1107-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1105-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1106-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014908379

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CONTENTS

I Undue Influence

II The Deception

III Legal Advice

IV Helen’s Decision

V Legal Action

VI Discovery

VII Summary Judgment

VIII The Hearing

IX The Property Is Sold

X Helen’s New Home?

XI Shame And Virtue

Honor widows that are widows indeed.

1 Timothy 5:3

NKJV

PREFACE

The times and events written of in this short story are as true as the author can recall. The names of all characters and places have been changed.

I

UNDUE INFLUENCE

Herein lies one story of dishonesty so regretful that I can scarcely bear to expose it on these pages. If not for the faith and valor that a ninety year old widow had to face it head-on, this story would not have been written. It is sad, but not uncommon, the extent of deceitfulness that one sibling will do to another. It is not unusual for immediate family members to go after one another for the sake of their own personal enrichment. What individual does not directly know of an instance similar to what follows in this short story that has not happened to them, or to someone they know personally? What makes this story unique is that it involves two elderly siblings that for a lifetime, it seemed like anyway, loved each other dearly. When the opportunity arose for one to exploit the other, there was not the least bit of hesitation. Whatever their past relationship was, and in this situation it went back a whole lifetime, meant nothing to the culprit. The minute there was an opening for one sibling to enrich himself by taking advantage of the other love and respect immediately went out the window.

Love can be used to be the greatest of all impostors. It can mislead anyone. There it is on the surface for a lifetime then in an instant, it can be completely gone. The most prepared and wisest individual can be made a fool of by this undue influence. When all is aligned and circumstance meets opportunity love can lose its reason to be. Once the purpose of using love to realize an objective has been satisfied, it is no longer of use. Exposed are a conniving ingenuity and an extraordinary capacity to deceive. All is hidden by the kindness and affection of the perpetrator. Sadly the victim is unaware, unaccepting, and unbelieving of the extremity of the deception. Only after the realization of the loss of family, home, and savings does the complete truth sink in. The only two things not lost in this situation are the victim’s own virtue and her faith in God.

It takes a true master of deceit to imitate love for a lifetime. A team effort with the help of other immediate family members to accomplish a swindle makes the fraud almost complete. A lone perpetrator needs a cohort or two to successfully execute a grand deception. Indeed, it must take at least one mind to master the plot and others to put the parts in place. As will be seen the tie that binds one thief to another is love of a different kind. It is a love that is not genuine, or unconditional. It is perhaps some sort of sincere, but disturbing devotion to a sinister cause. A cause to surreptitiously control and acquire what is in sight through any means necessary.

The worst in man can be comprehended by the extremes he will go to in pursuing his personal objectives. On one hand, the shame he will realize through his devious actions is meaningless to him. On the other hand, the best in man can be seen in his capacity to face irreverence through extraordinary patience and virtue. Virtue, as it happens in this short story, can be much more than admirable, and can even be inspiring. In other words, there is no shame, or dishonor in living like a parasite off the integrity and hard work of others, or there is genuine courage and rectitude in tolerating deception. What will ultimately succeed- deception or virtue? In this story it’s a question of justice, and justice as we know is a fleeting entity. If you believe in God, it will be served eventually, but the need for it in this scenario is immediate.

The deception itself begins with the death of an automobile body repairman who lived in Gardendale, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Although the setup took a lifetime to prepare, the deed itself only took a few years to pull-off. Dave had suffered with aches and pains all over his body for many months. Because of the many medications he was taking, he had no taste in his mouth and often refused to eat his favorite meals. Towards the very end, juice and water were the only extent of his meals. The cancer he had was discovered much too late to cure. His wife, Helen, did as he wished and allowed him a graceful exit in his own home on his own bed. He left behind a lifetime of belongings, his home, his precious blue car, and many, many tools which were all willed to his beloved wife. He was eighty four years old at the time of his death, and she was also at about the same age.

Helen was now alone in California with no immediate family near her and only a few friends to support her. She was living on a meager pension of $56, and a Social Security check of about $750 a month. This may seem like very little to be living on in a big city, but except for a few groceries and house bills to pay each month she lived comfortably.

When Helen was a young lady of twenty two years of age she left her home in Denver, Colorado and moved to the Los Angeles area to find work during the World War II years. She found steady work in a factory building parts for airplanes and never left. Helen met Dave at a party and they were together almost fifty years until the time of his death in the fall of 2007. Although she was alone in the very big city, she was happy and content. She was essentially problem free as she did not drive and the home she lived in was debt free. And for her age, Helen was extraordinarily healthy both physically and mentally.

At home, in Denver, were two brothers and two sisters urging her to return to her roots. Some nieces and nephews, including me, were also asking her to come home. With the death of one of her sisters, Sarah, she began thinking seriously of returning. Then with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease to another of her sisters, Loretta, she made frequent trips to visit her in Denver.

On one trip her youngest brother, Andre, took her to see a mobile home that he told her she could buy, and he would move to his property in the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver. This place is about a ninety minute drive from Denver, in a tiny little community with a few hundred residents called Sanford. She saw the mobile home, and saw that it needed many repairs, but he told her he could make it livable. Andre was a capable handyman and with the help of his stepson, Mike, it wouldn’t take long to make the needed repairs. That, at least, was the plan they both agreed on.

The relationship that Andre and Helen always had was what any typical brother and sister would have. She was fourteen years older