I ran out to do another errand and when I got back there was a woman in front of my building with two pre-teen kids. When I walked up I said hello and she told me she was showing them the building; she used to live here and her parents owned the store that had been on the first floor. We chatted about the neighborhood for a few minutes and then I asked her if she wanted to see the apartment.
I am not in the habit of asking strangers into my home but she seemed legitimate - and it turns out she lived in MY apartment; her grandparents had lived on the third floor. (The apartments used to be massive but were bisected and reconfigured by my landlord in the 1980's - she lived on the second floor which would include my apartment and the one behind me ) Anyway, it was very emotional for her...my office was her bedroom when she was little; she told me her grandmother died in the back bedroom of this apartment...she went to the high school down the street...
I'm sure being back in the building must have been a strange experience for her. She said her family sold the building in the late 70's after her father was held up at gunpoint in the store a few times...I told her they probably sold it to my current landlord because he has owned property in this area at least that long...She had brought her kids down for the day to see where she had grown up - their next stop was the park pool where I swim all the time - I told her now it's mostly old Polish guys and me swimming there and she laughed...
She was tearful when they left and gave me a big hug and said "Thank you for letting me in...that meant so much to me." I told her it meant a lot to me, too. And it did.