Jackie

My friend Jacqueline who I know from walking by her house and chatting told me a story. She's 80 and beautiful with straight jaw-length silver hair and red lipstick. She loves to garden and be outdoors in her big yard which is how I've seen her over the years. She lives alone but has a network of friends and neighbors. She plays tennis 2x a week and has 3 sisters nearby in CT and lots of extended family.

Last time I saw her she told me a scary story about being followed in her car just as she popped out to drop a letter in the box around the corner. It was night time and she  didn't have her phone with her. 

She told me she was too scared to phone the police afterwards. I thought about it for a few days then I wrote a letter to the police department and told them "My friend from Milton St was followed at night in her car."

The guy drove a dark SUV and tried to corner her on a side street by blocking her with his vehicle. He got out and approached her car with a sheaf of papers in his hand. She did not open the window. She put the car in reverse  and drove backwards and escaped to a side street and  then another and kept going trying to lose him. She didn't want him to follow her home. Finally when she thought it was safe she shut off her lights and waited  on a side street. After 20 minutes she drove home shaken. I relayed everything she told me. 

The following week when the doorbell rang unexpectedly she hid and called her next door neighbor Florence. Later she found out that it was her niece who had arrived with a Christmas gift.

Then weeks later when I saw her outside I told her that I was so upset about what happened to her I had notified her police dept in a letter. This way if they hear about more people having the same experience they might be able to track the guy down.

Anyway, today I saw Jackie and we stopped and chatted. She told me she reads all the local papers and there was a special column in the Enterprise by the Chief of Police addressing exactly what had happened to her. She smiled knowing I had told the department about her experience. I said, Jackie think of it this way, you've lived here for a long time.

Since the 40's, she said.

And nothing like this ever happened. So try to think of how rare it is and try not to be afraid to go out at night.