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Beyond the Western
Friend or Deceiver
Scott A. Gese
Image Source: Alex Harvey / Unsplash
She trusted him completely. It was her big mistake.
Beyond the Western
Hazel Crane lived the life of a delicate reed, swaying with the whims of the prevailing breeze.
It was a blessing and a curse. The blessing was that she was very fun loving and open minded and never conformed to a rigid way of thinking… about anything. She didn’t have a care in the world. She just floated along with the current wherever it happened to take her.
The curse was that she was a follower. A woman who went along with the thinking of whoever she was around at the time. She always marched to the beat of someone else’s drum. She never seemed to have one of her own.
Hazel Crane had one big problem. She was incapable of making a major decision on her own.
She tried. Whenever the need arose she would honestly try. When she thought she had succeeded she would be pleased… for about a minute. Then doubt would creep in as other options came to mind. Then the second guessing would start and before long she was totally confused. She would become so upset with herself that she would end up “sitting on her hands” and doing nothing.
As a young woman, she depended on others to make the major decisions in her life. She was not her own person. Once married she was content to allow her husband to run her life. She loved him and followed his lead like a puppy on a leash.
In her later years, her husband passed away. Leaving her alone, brokenhearted and in charge of her own life. She didn’t know how to cope. She wanted to lay down and die.
She continued to live her life, alone. She carried on as best she could. Her husbands Social Security, wise investments and a lump sum life insurance policy sustained her standard of living.
Hazel was now forced to make her own decisions. She still wasn’t good at it. She relied on others with good hearts to give her some direction.
Unfortunately, there were a few who knew Hazel and took advantage of the situation. They gave her bad advice. They pushed her to make financial decisions that were, in their words, “in her best interest”. In truth, the decisions were in their best interest, not hers. She didn’t realize it and blindly went along with whatever she was told, happy to have someone willing to “help her”.
A so-called friend convinced her to let him handle her financial affairs. She mistakenly trusted the man and happily allowed him to make all of her money decisions on her behalf.
Whenever he brought her legal documents to sign, she did it without reading them or asking questions. Her relatives weren’t concerned enough to intervene. They let things slide. It was easier that way. They figured the friend would do right by her and they would get a piece of the inheritance pie when she passed away.
At the age of eighty-five Hazel died. She never realized that she had unknowingly changed her will. Everything she owned was to be given to the “friend” who made her financial decisions for her. The relatives were livid but there was no way for the iron-clad will to be contested.
The friend had taken it all and disappeared from their lives.
He had become the “friend” of a widow named Clare.
© Copyright 2020 by Scott A. Gese All Rights Reserved.
