By the time deputies came to escort Addie Polk out of her home of 36 years, the 90 year old had taken out her life insurance policy and placed it next to her pocketbook and keys in the neatly kept home.
She shot herself in the chest before she could be taken away from the foreclosed home which was worth less than its mortgage from the day she took out the loan.
Hard to talk about the elderly without someone getting offended. When it comes to money, I think there is a straight-across-the-board sprinkling of those who have made bad money choices for less then stellar reasons. We live in a world or rather, we use to live in a world where the sky and beyond were the limit.
She took out a 30-year, 6.375 percent mortgage for $45,620 four years ago when the house was appraised at $31,230.
There is so much wrong with that sentence, it is hard to know where to start but here is the bottom line - we humans use the same mind that makes this financial deal sound like a great choice, to explain who God is and how He works. The independence we want, not just the bank or government but our greed can lead to even worse choices as it did with Miss Addie.
And Polk, as she recovered, sounded a bit regretful.
She said this was a crazy thing to do, said her neighbor Robert Dillon, 62, who visited her in the hospital. He said her told her, "That's crazy to you. The good Lord could have been in control.
One out of 6 people live in homes that are worth less than they owe. In the next 12 to 18 months, 20 million households could find themselves in the same situation. Up to 40 percent of all home mortgages - it is almost unbelievable.
It is time to take a look at what we value and why. Are we valuing things that are costing us more each day than they are worth and find that paying the price while making us independent, which we perceive as a strength, is taking us further and further from where we really want to be? I pray for Miss Addie that she takes her neighbors advice and trades her independence for the dependence that brings real value. The kind that money can't buy...
