Chapter Sixty Eight

She wasted away in sadness, and passed away in her easy chair one afternoon while Elena had been at school. Coming home to find her grandmother dead and the last of her family gone was devastating.

With the wills and the money left to her, she was able to stay out of foster care; and with the help of the family lawyer, she had become a legal adult at the age of 16. She moved back into her parent's house, which had been left to her in the will. She finished high school early and went off to a small community college.

She found that with her small talent at art, and her drive to concern herself totally with schoolwork, she finished a two-year degree in graphic design and computer technology in less than eighteen months. She only dated twice seriously while going to school. She had made friends with her ex boyfriend since they both liked the outdoors. The friendship had moved into the physical realm, and she had been happy. He had taken her out and shown her how to shoot a gun and she li