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My Friend Was Once Homeless

© As told to Bea Sheftel

My Best Friend Had Been Homeless

I went back to community college in my 40's to earn an associates degree in journalism. I was hired as editor of the student newspaper along with a staff of other students. One of them was Linda, a red head who was about my age. She worked as my assistant editor and was excellent at her work. She also was a cracker jack photographer.

We worked together, and became close friends. I asked her once why she traveled around campus with a heavy backpack filled with several cameras, extra clothing, snacks and a variety of other stuff. When she put this huge backpack on it reminded me of Santa and his pack of toys. She confided her story of homelessness.

She was active in her church and went to meetings a few nights a week leaving her two young girls with her husband. She thought she had everything, a home in the suburbs, a handsome husband with a good job, and two beautiful young daughters. Then one night she came home early. Walking to the bedroom she heard strange sounds. Pushing open the door she found her husband sexually abusing her oldest daughter who was 11.

He tried to talk himself out of it, but the daughter finally confessed it had been going on for a while. The younger girl, who was probably 9 at the time walked into the room and said, "Daddy does that to me, too."

Her husband refused to leave the house, so Linda packed a few things and took the girls to a motel. She called the police and brought charges against him. While he was in jail, she and the girls were able to return to their home. It turned out he'd been abusing not only her daughters, but friend's of the girls. He paid them off with gifts and in some cases, drugs, and alcohol to keep them quiet. He was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail.

Linda worked in a nursing home and tried to keep up with the mortgage and the bills. She even took on a second job. She was able to keep the home a few years before it got too much for her. She moved to the cheapest apartment she could find. Even electricity was too expensive so they lived in primitive conditions in a small apartment. After a while, even that was too much and my friend and her daughters were evicted for lack of payment of rent.

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