Helen Street...Part 2

So when I left you last in Helen Street...Part 1, Margaret's health was failing and we knew our time there was coming to an end. However, we got a reprieve when Margaret's son Scott decided to move back home with his longtime friend Mike. We had met Scott several times over the years. He was quiet and friendly and was grateful for the assistance we had given his parents over the years. He was working for a bank and was able to transfer his job from Rochester to Binghamton, solely to take care of his mother.

Christmas 2012 on Helen St

Things went well at first as Scott and Mike took over maintenance of the property and care of Margaret. Then, one Fall day Scott fell ill. It began with headaches but shortly he became weak and spent more time in the hospital. It's not my right to tell you of Scott's diagnosis, but he simply became weaker and weaker, and eventually bedridden. On one awful winter night he begged us to take care of his mother as he laying dying. A few days later he was gone.

After the funeral and burial, Scott's friend Mike stayed around for a few weeks, then he moved back to Rochester. That left us back where we were, except that we felt a commitment to care for Margaret. Frankly, Cindy did most of the work, along with friends and relatives of Margaret while I took back over maintenance of the home.

This went on for a while when suddenly, Scott's friend Mike returned. This really surprised us but Mike said he had decided to take care of Margaret and keep her in her home. This was both good and bad news. Good, in that this would buy us more time, but bad knowing that Margaret's time at home was coming to an end, one way or another. We were apprehensive that Mike would not be able to take care of her in many ways.

Removing our name from the mailbox. 

25  years in our home at an end.

Things began to go downhill pretty quickly at this point. Mike became rather possessive, demanding, and pushy. Agreements and  arrangements we had made with Margaret ended, and Mike got more angry and reclusive. I'll spare you the gruesome details but he began hoarding and despite not working, bought new cars and expensive electronics. We tried to reach out to Margaret, but she had become so dependent on Mike she just made excuses for him. Being blind, she literally couldn't see what he was doing to her house with her money.

Things went from bad to worse as he began to leave us obscene notes and spray paint messages in the garage and on the driveway. We dreaded coming home fearing what we might find. One afternoon while I was at work, he screamed at Cindy, inches from her face, such that he spit on her.  Obviously time to go.

Me and the FBAN in  Idaho. Trust me. there WERE fires.
You just can't see them in this photo. 

We had been looking at homes off and on for many years with First Sister Karen Templeman, esteemed Realtor with Realty USA, but now things got critical. In the late Summer of 2015, the western wildfire season had gone crazy with record numbers of fires. For those of you that don't know, I'm an incident meteorologist and can be dispatched out west on a moments notice. However, I had been approved for leave (vacation) and given the home situation I was not anxious to leave.But then, the situation became critical and they became desperate for help so I agreed to cancel my vacation and go, with Cindy's blessing and encouragement. Off I went to Orofino, Idaho and the Municipal Complex for two weeks. Before I went, we walked though the house on Park St and were very interested. Cindy and Karen went through the process and we bought the house while I was in Idaho.

So there you have it. A series of mostly unfortunate events led us to the home we now love, which is the happy ending for us.