Last week I wrote about the government's decision to take back my mother-in-laws social security check because she had the audacity to die on the 27th instead of waiting until the end of the month. I received both written and verbal comments. One comment was "Ludicrous". Today's post is even more ludicrous.Two years ago, my husband reconnected with a teacher who had impacted his life. She was flattered that she had touched him so much and they corresponded several times. Later in the year, she sent us an invitation to her mother's 100 birthday party. Her mother is a delightful woman still living in her own home and caring for herself. She is now 102 years old.
Yesterday, her daughter-in-law informed us that the family had been contacted by the social security office and informed that the 102 year old woman was not eligible for government assistance because she did not have a certified birth certificate. They they sent an 'investigator' out to her house to investigate the 'fraud'. The family explained that 102 years ago, birth certificates were not registered. There simply was no such thing. The family searched high and low to acquire proof that the woman "is who she says she is" (Investigator's words).
When the family could not acquire documentation, the investigator, who apparently has a PhD in mathematics, said, "All you have to do is get a bunch of people who were living when she was born to testify that she is who she says she is."
At that point in the story I said, "She's 102."
The daughter-in-law said, "That's what I said. If we found anyone who remembers when she was born, they would be 120 years old."
You will be relieved to know that the social security department finally dropped the case. Now don't you feel 'secure'?
