There were lots of older women (OK, maybe I just thought that they were old because I was like 9) in my neighborhood that would sit outside all day (the stoop-sitters), dressed head-to-toe in black because they were in "mourning", sometimes for decades. They would also watch the neighborhood and would tell on you to your parents if you did something that met with their disapproval.

Well, that's what they did when they weren't making GRAVY!!