Wednesday, October 08, 2014
CHANGES
Yellow leaves flutter and fall
As the morning sun casts light and shadow
Across the the littered lawn.
This autumn feels like late summer,
With wasps sleepily hovering outside the window
While cicada, crickets, and other insect hallmarks
Of another summer's end
Are noticeably absent.
One maple's leaves have all turned gold,
While another's is sprinkled with
Lightly turning red and orange
Only on the tips of outer branches,
Leaving those leaves closer to trunk
A green older and darker
Than the delicate bright green of spring.
Soon the trees will be naked silhouettes,
Grey crooked tapered latticed skeletons
Of what once were rich, full, and vibrant
The wind both gentle and wild
Finally tears the leaves from their anchors.
But all those whom I've loved and lost
Will miss the spectacle nature displays
Ever different, ever the same each year.
The trees unfold from bud to light, bright colors in spring,
Stay steadfast among windblown storms and sun's scorch in summer,
Then create a flame-out riotous festival in fall,
Only to die out and be blown away
Their tired, weak buffeted shells shivering grey
In the iced frosty blizzards of winter.
How long will they survive to see rebirth, growth,
Brilliance, then passing away, over and again?
The universal cycle of life and death
From which none escape.
~Virginia H. Conard
@September 27, 2014
As the morning sun casts light and shadow
Across the the littered lawn.
This autumn feels like late summer,
With wasps sleepily hovering outside the window
While cicada, crickets, and other insect hallmarks
Of another summer's end
Are noticeably absent.
One maple's leaves have all turned gold,
While another's is sprinkled with
Lightly turning red and orange
Only on the tips of outer branches,
Leaving those leaves closer to trunk
A green older and darker
Than the delicate bright green of spring.
Soon the trees will be naked silhouettes,
Grey crooked tapered latticed skeletons
Of what once were rich, full, and vibrant
The wind both gentle and wild
Finally tears the leaves from their anchors.
But all those whom I've loved and lost
Will miss the spectacle nature displays
Ever different, ever the same each year.
The trees unfold from bud to light, bright colors in spring,
Stay steadfast among windblown storms and sun's scorch in summer,
Then create a flame-out riotous festival in fall,
Only to die out and be blown away
Their tired, weak buffeted shells shivering grey
In the iced frosty blizzards of winter.
How long will they survive to see rebirth, growth,
Brilliance, then passing away, over and again?
The universal cycle of life and death
From which none escape.
~Virginia H. Conard
@September 27, 2014
A Not-so-Brief Update of Betrayal, Thievery, Loss, & Other Disasters
A not-so-brief update to my last blog entry of 2007: the "friend" I referred to therein ( who lived 6 hrs away in Maine) with whom I emailed regularly, turned out to be a cruel thief and robber. I gave him thousands of dollars when he couldn't afford rent and food--some "loans" he promised to pay back but never did--but he ended up selling my SUV while I was sick (value at least $9,000) for $5,000--and never gave me the money. This, after I sold him my valuable (sentimentally) Taurus which I inherited after my Mom died, for $1, because I knew he needed a vehicle. I also believe he was in some way related to the "robbery" of my valuable guitars (1960s Martin 12-string and Goya Classical as well as an Epiphone 6-string and two others) and all electronics of worth, from my apartment. He had offered to help coordinate the move out of my apartment in Saratoga, the rent of which had gotten too expensive (and the landlord was selling the building). I needed someone to help with the move because Saratoga Hospital sent me to the absolute WORST Assisted Living facility ever: Emeritus at Colonie Manor, in Latham.
People felt that I needed more care than I had been getting from my roommate, who was living in my apartment in exchange for taking care of me as my health continued to deteriorate. His health began to deteriorate, adding to my decline. My so-called friend from Maine told me that if I had any contact with my roommate (Bruce), that he (my ex-friend) would never have contact with me again. I never imagined that my ex-friend would really sever our relationship, and my ex-friend was--I thought--a kind and gentle person who would never desert me (or rip me off for $1, much less $5000). Bruce found me 2 weeks after I moved to Latham and wrote some heart-wrenching letters, which broke my heart not to answer, but I didn't. Then the Saratoga police called me and told me I should call my ex-roommate, who was at our old apartment at the time. I saw this as a chance to make contact and also to get the remote lock key openers and car keys for both cars that my ex-friend had taken, given that he didn't have any and would need them. In the meantime I had seen my ex-friend twice in Saratoga (I was not supposed to go to the apartment but went to look for the heirloom ring my Mom had given me which was missing when my ex-friend knocked over my jewelry all over the bedroom). That day I witnessed him giving and throwing away my deceased husband's clothes, offering to give away (to the movers) or get rid of mine as well as some of my ex-roommate's clothes and belongings, which I told him not to but he did anyway. The first time I saw him I took him out to an expensive dinner at Lillian's as a thank-you gesture and gave him a few thousand dollars to compensate him for all his help; I had no idea that he was ripping me off, throwing away valuables behind my back, allowing items to be "stolen," or that he was going to sell my car for half its worth and never give me any money. My only visit to my apt. was cut short when he forced me to leave early because he had to leave. He took me to the restaurant/store downstairs and got into a fight with the staff, who had banned him from the premises previously for making lewd, sexist jokes to a checkout girl. I watched in horror as he swept items off of the counter and had a physical struggle with a male employee, who threatened to call the police. He then fled, leaving me alone, questioning his sanity and wondering if I ever knew him at all.
The day he was on his way back to Maine, where he was sharing a house with his ex-wife, he stopped by the Assisted Living facility (I had to practically beg), at which time I gave him the sets of keys for both cars he had taken. Instead of being appreciative to have them, he immediately grilled me to find out how I got them. When I told him that Bruce (ex-roommate) already knew where I was and had dropped them off at my request, ex-friend immediately left. That was the last time I ever saw or spoke to him, despite writing numerous emails and leaving many messages on his cell phone. This was at the beginning of March 2011. After trying to get the police (State, Sheriffs, and local Saratoga) involved in helping me recover my stolen money (as well as the 2 sets of license plates he never gave me, which meant I couldn't take the cars off of my insurance policies and was therefore liable for anything that happened to either one), I finally had a lawyer call him. My ex-friend was reportedly rude and said he'd paid me the $5000 (a bald-faced lie), then hung up. My lawyer called him back, requesting that he return the plates to me, and the ex-friend reportedly just hung up on him.
Returning to March, when I had visited my old apartment to look for my mother's heirloom jewelry, when I entered the apartment, all of my guitars (some very valuable) and electronics were missing, and my ex-friend told me there had been a robbery; he said one day when he arrived at the apartment, the sliding glass door was wide open. Later that day I looked and realized there were NO footsteps in the snow, which would have had to be there if someone entered the apartment through the glass doors. I dismissed it at the time because so much else was going on that I couldn't deal with it all. Just last week, I found a website belonging to my ex-friend. On it, he was displaying an X-Box electronic game which he was selling on Craig's List. The picture showed the exact X-Box model which had been stolen from my bedroom, which they don't make any more. Further proof of my ex-friend's thievery.
Meanwhile, I am still living with no vehicle, in the middle of the country, with only taxis for transportation (I don't go out much). I desperately need a wheelchair van, which I could have purchased with proceeds of my SUV and items which this person stole from me. I am more or less a recluse because I have no transportation, due to my ex-friend's theft and betrayal. I have to believe in karma, as there is nothing I can do about the many wrongs which were perpetrated on me. What goes around, comes around. May my ex-friend truly experience cruelty, theft, and betrayal equal to that which he caused which ruined my life.
P.S. I shattered my hip in May 2013. While I was in rehabilitation, my house burned down. The authorities believed it was arson but never found a culprit. After the fire, as I was in Granville, NY, no one was available to watch over my home, and it was ransacked. Anything which could have been salvaged was stolen. Everything was gone. I lived in motels from September 2013 through March 2014, while the house was being rebuilt. I had to use insurance money to live on, and currently my furniture is comprised of a bed and 2 chairs. It's hard to furnish a home living on a fixed disability income. Also, I can no longer walk; must use an electric wheelchair--but since I can't afford a wheelchair van, I am stuck in the middle of nowhere. Starting in 2011, life has been quite a disaster! If anyone can help me find the thief who ruined my life, (he is well-known in the Saratoga area, having a sister living in the vicinity, as well as a failed record store and a failed bookstore before his now ex-wife convinced him to move back to Portland, ME, where she was from) please let me know… or if anyone has or knows of someone who wants to sell a wheelchair van, please let me know also!!!
P.P.S. I apologize for any overlap or repetition in this post; so much has happened that it's hard to recall what has and has not been chronicled!
People felt that I needed more care than I had been getting from my roommate, who was living in my apartment in exchange for taking care of me as my health continued to deteriorate. His health began to deteriorate, adding to my decline. My so-called friend from Maine told me that if I had any contact with my roommate (Bruce), that he (my ex-friend) would never have contact with me again. I never imagined that my ex-friend would really sever our relationship, and my ex-friend was--I thought--a kind and gentle person who would never desert me (or rip me off for $1, much less $5000). Bruce found me 2 weeks after I moved to Latham and wrote some heart-wrenching letters, which broke my heart not to answer, but I didn't. Then the Saratoga police called me and told me I should call my ex-roommate, who was at our old apartment at the time. I saw this as a chance to make contact and also to get the remote lock key openers and car keys for both cars that my ex-friend had taken, given that he didn't have any and would need them. In the meantime I had seen my ex-friend twice in Saratoga (I was not supposed to go to the apartment but went to look for the heirloom ring my Mom had given me which was missing when my ex-friend knocked over my jewelry all over the bedroom). That day I witnessed him giving and throwing away my deceased husband's clothes, offering to give away (to the movers) or get rid of mine as well as some of my ex-roommate's clothes and belongings, which I told him not to but he did anyway. The first time I saw him I took him out to an expensive dinner at Lillian's as a thank-you gesture and gave him a few thousand dollars to compensate him for all his help; I had no idea that he was ripping me off, throwing away valuables behind my back, allowing items to be "stolen," or that he was going to sell my car for half its worth and never give me any money. My only visit to my apt. was cut short when he forced me to leave early because he had to leave. He took me to the restaurant/store downstairs and got into a fight with the staff, who had banned him from the premises previously for making lewd, sexist jokes to a checkout girl. I watched in horror as he swept items off of the counter and had a physical struggle with a male employee, who threatened to call the police. He then fled, leaving me alone, questioning his sanity and wondering if I ever knew him at all.
The day he was on his way back to Maine, where he was sharing a house with his ex-wife, he stopped by the Assisted Living facility (I had to practically beg), at which time I gave him the sets of keys for both cars he had taken. Instead of being appreciative to have them, he immediately grilled me to find out how I got them. When I told him that Bruce (ex-roommate) already knew where I was and had dropped them off at my request, ex-friend immediately left. That was the last time I ever saw or spoke to him, despite writing numerous emails and leaving many messages on his cell phone. This was at the beginning of March 2011. After trying to get the police (State, Sheriffs, and local Saratoga) involved in helping me recover my stolen money (as well as the 2 sets of license plates he never gave me, which meant I couldn't take the cars off of my insurance policies and was therefore liable for anything that happened to either one), I finally had a lawyer call him. My ex-friend was reportedly rude and said he'd paid me the $5000 (a bald-faced lie), then hung up. My lawyer called him back, requesting that he return the plates to me, and the ex-friend reportedly just hung up on him.
Returning to March, when I had visited my old apartment to look for my mother's heirloom jewelry, when I entered the apartment, all of my guitars (some very valuable) and electronics were missing, and my ex-friend told me there had been a robbery; he said one day when he arrived at the apartment, the sliding glass door was wide open. Later that day I looked and realized there were NO footsteps in the snow, which would have had to be there if someone entered the apartment through the glass doors. I dismissed it at the time because so much else was going on that I couldn't deal with it all. Just last week, I found a website belonging to my ex-friend. On it, he was displaying an X-Box electronic game which he was selling on Craig's List. The picture showed the exact X-Box model which had been stolen from my bedroom, which they don't make any more. Further proof of my ex-friend's thievery.
Meanwhile, I am still living with no vehicle, in the middle of the country, with only taxis for transportation (I don't go out much). I desperately need a wheelchair van, which I could have purchased with proceeds of my SUV and items which this person stole from me. I am more or less a recluse because I have no transportation, due to my ex-friend's theft and betrayal. I have to believe in karma, as there is nothing I can do about the many wrongs which were perpetrated on me. What goes around, comes around. May my ex-friend truly experience cruelty, theft, and betrayal equal to that which he caused which ruined my life.
P.S. I shattered my hip in May 2013. While I was in rehabilitation, my house burned down. The authorities believed it was arson but never found a culprit. After the fire, as I was in Granville, NY, no one was available to watch over my home, and it was ransacked. Anything which could have been salvaged was stolen. Everything was gone. I lived in motels from September 2013 through March 2014, while the house was being rebuilt. I had to use insurance money to live on, and currently my furniture is comprised of a bed and 2 chairs. It's hard to furnish a home living on a fixed disability income. Also, I can no longer walk; must use an electric wheelchair--but since I can't afford a wheelchair van, I am stuck in the middle of nowhere. Starting in 2011, life has been quite a disaster! If anyone can help me find the thief who ruined my life, (he is well-known in the Saratoga area, having a sister living in the vicinity, as well as a failed record store and a failed bookstore before his now ex-wife convinced him to move back to Portland, ME, where she was from) please let me know… or if anyone has or knows of someone who wants to sell a wheelchair van, please let me know also!!!
P.P.S. I apologize for any overlap or repetition in this post; so much has happened that it's hard to recall what has and has not been chronicled!
