Part I — The Canary
Maria Coleman was approaching ninety when her husband, Don Coleman, died after nearly six decades of marriage.
His death did more than end a marriage. It changed the architecture of Maria's life.
Maria now lived alone in Flint, Michigan. Her extended family lived thousands of miles away. She did not drive. She lived largely in an analog world—no smartphone and no internet access.
Yet describing her simply as a vulnerable elderly widow would badly misrepresent this force of nature.
The experience eventually led to a broader question: Could the Great Wealth Transfer become the Great Wealth Diversion unless financial institutions and families learn to detect the abuse of trust, not merely the breach of identity?
The complete published Part One is available in the PDF.