He had to. Stage 4 lung cancer did him in.
Ironically, his host was his childhood friend. He didn't believe me about his friend and cut off communication. He also died of the same thing.

Heavy smokers?

Probably. I know the home owner was as was his ex who had moved out earlier and his mother who must be in her 90's if alive. Mom made me think of Mammy Yokum. Very tiny but must eat right. Was housesitting and saw me pruning an came over to talk. Right off the bat she guessed I didn't smoke by looking at my skin.

Was the mother nice?

Yes, very mentally alert, too. We talked about getting acupuncture to quit smoking.

Did she try it?

I don't know. I was not close to the family as I could not handle the smoke. Then, the marriage ended and the strange friend moved in and the terrorizing started.

They had a lot of problems.

Yes, yet the owner was a very nice man. His friend took advantage of it. I don't know how or when but I hope that someday the stolen things from my yard and others will turn up as the new owners remodel.

That might happen. Does the new owner know items were stolen?