I'd love for you to meet the kindest, most generous woman that ever lived. Huge heart. Open door. Offered you food and a place to sleep whether you were in need or not. It was just a part of her. She did everything in her power to help everyone...EVERYTHING. "What's mine, is yours" was the motto of her life

Hard worker. You name it, she did it. Waitress. Hospital switchboard operator. Seamstress. Landlord. Caregiver. Volunteer. She even drove a school bus route through the Trinity Alps of northern California during the worst of winters. As a single-parent, she raised her only child with the skills and values to become an amazing, successful and loving man (yeh, that would be my Dad)

Unfortunately, as the decades went by, her generosity was taken advantage of greatly. This caused her to become misled, cheated and harmed by others. Whether it was a renter that was 'so sweet' when she originally interviewed them, the latest door salesman that 'seemed so honest', someone who knocked on her door asking for cash because 'they ran out of gas', or one of her biggest enemies...her own aged mind

This beautiful, huge-hearted woman I speak of is the person I affectionately call Grandma. She is WHY senior advocacy is so near and dear to my heart

My innate desire to protect Grandma from these things has fostered in me the need to help others as well