I was severely abused by my father until I turned fourteen. If you read my article Plunder, you will gain all of the insight of this evil. I turned into a rebellious youth, hating the world. After high school, I moved out on my own. I began to see the way the world works and came to an understanding of myself and settled down.
When I was twenty-six, I had moved into a nice house on a decent street. A very old lady lived next door to me. One day I noticed that her lawn had grown to an unsightly proportion. I went over to her house and introduced myself. She was in her eighties and could barely take care of herself. I offered to mow her lawn. She said her son was supposed to come and mow the lawn when needed, but she had not seen him for quite some time. I mowed the lawn and asked her if I could do anything else to help her. She said I had done more than enough. I noticed her kitchen faucet was leaking, so I fixed that for her. I noticed what a fine house she had, filled with antiques and what looked like valuable objects.
I visited her daily to see how she was doing. One day while sitting and talking, her daughter showed up. She asked who I was and I told her I was a neighbor helping out when I could. The daughter said the rest of the family lived in another town and found it hard to visit regularly. She seemed to immediately trust me. That is when she told me that her mother was supposed to be getting insulin shots twice per day. I asked her why they did not move her to a nursing home. She said her mother refused to leave the house she had lived in for so long.
It was then she proposed a quite unusual offer. She said if she provided the insulin and needles and if I was willing to giver her the shots, she would pay me once a month. I was sort of shocked by the proposal and forgot to ask how much she would pay me. I was not sure what to say. I told her I did not know how to give shots. She said it was very easy and showed me how to give the shots. Feeling sorry for the old lady, I agreed. I began giving her shots on a regular basis. The old lady got her insulin package through the mail. I did not see the daughter until three months later. She offered to pay me fifty dollars a month. The amount was much less than I had anticipated. I had grown quite fond of the old lady and told the mother to forget the money. I said I would do it for free. She seemed quite pleased.
One evening as I sat with her, I was staring at a bookshelf when a small black book caught my eye. I retrieved it and found it to be a book about meditation, astral projection and all sorts of reading of the sort. I began looking through it and the old lady said I could have it if I wanted. I gracefully thanked her and took the book home. I found it fascinating and began practicing some of the techniques.
Six months later the old lady passed away. I did not attend the funeral, since I did not know the rest of the family and felt uncomfortable to be in attendance. That afternoon, I was sitting in a chair reading the book. I had opened the window on her side of the house, for there was a wonderfully slight breeze blowing. Suddenly, several cars pulled into her driveway. I saw the mother and father and two other younger families which I supposed was her grandchildren and their kids. They opened all the windows. I was surprised at the gaiety of the people inside. They did not seem to be in mourning as a regular family would. I was curious and concentrated on listening to them. They were talking and laughing as if they were pleased the old lady passed away.
Then I heard them talking about dividing up all of the antiques and valuables left behind. I became confused and angry. According to what I could hear, they had been waiting for the old lady to pass away. Not only did she own a lot of valuable items, but it turned out she had been quite wealthy. To my horror, they talked of how much money they would be getting and their plans on spending the money.
The first thing I thought of was how I had been such a lost soul for many years, but this was beyond my comprehension. After reading the little black book and finding my way toward enlightenment, I realized these people were truly lost souls. How could they be so greedy and uncaring? The afternoon passed and eventually they left. The next day, several trucks appeared at the home and workers began packing up and moving everything out of the house.
I sat in my chair for a while, thinking of all the time I had spent with the old lady and how we had grown to become very good friends. I felt a tear running down my cheek. I felt so sorry for her. I knew how good a person she had been and prayed for her. When I recall everything that had happened over the last months, I realized these people were truly lost souls.
As I read more of the book and gained wisdom, I felt that it was meant to be for me to meet her, become her friend in her last days and the book was a gift that she somehow new I needed. I will never understand people like her family. I prayed for them to change their ways. I do not know if that ever happened, but I do know they were truly lost souls.
