There are heartless crooks out there who can enter your private home uninvited, tear your home apart and steal everything they can carry. It happened to us. My husband and I are retired on a fixed income and live in a modest home. We do not have a lot of money, but we do treasure some of the things we inherited from our parents. Those things were taken — I’m sure by someone wanting a quick drug fix. They don’t care that they also stole half of our wrapped Christmas gifts for our children.
I belong to a charity group called Assistance League of Southwest Washington. Our group of women works hard to try and make our community a better place, especially for children. Hopefully those children won’t grow up to be thieves but will work for what they have.
Our parents survived the Great Depression and never stole a dime from someone else, and neither did we. We worked hard to make our retirement self-sufficient years and not rely on government help. We earned it all.
Do not trust that you will not get robbed. Be very careful, and if you have an alarm system, set it even if you’re gone for a short time. We learned our lesson too late.
Elsie Akerson, Vancouver
