While it is a crime killing individuals in one's way, I think sometimes it could be more than a crime to deter progress in one's family.
My father's cousin owned a shop lot in the centre business district in a mining town. The town centre has been dying for years. The cousin refused to sell in the boom years. Once a consortium offered $3,000,000 to buy the pre-war double-storey 30x105 square feet concrete structure. He, the owner, simply believed the maxim that one buys property to keep. Now that he has passed on, his 78 year old widow and his 50 year old daughter existed in the decaying building. That neighbourhood boasted of boarded up buildings, multi-storey business structure with underground car parks. It is also unsafe and full of unsavoury elements after dark. Both ladies sleep with one eye open as well as a base ball bat next to the bed.
Much as I do not understand why two women of average intelligence need to "defend" their property. It is the fact that they have been staying there for more than forty years. It may just be the great unknown that frightened them. It is seemingly safe to stick to what one is used to than to consider something new. Should one day those two become statistics of robbery turned into murders, I wonder if we may say that the proud former owner of that building left behind a legacy that led to the demise of his family?
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