We had become good friends with Maggie over the past several years. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a long process. She'd opened up to us at first, but trust was another matter. That took several months of just being there for her. We even gave her our numbers so she could call us (collect of course) when she could. Occasionally, we would deposit some money into her account, but she never asked us to. If she was trying to take advantage of us, she hid it well.

Mom and Dad were at first incredulous that we were continuing our contact with Maggie. After a while, they just...