Neighbors

Time marches on.  People come and go.  Neighborhoods change.

A next door neighbor bought their house in 1989.  A couple of weeks ago, it went on the market.  It's already had one open house.

 

I wonder how quickly it will sell and, of course, who the buyer will be.  I'm aware there is already at least one interested person.

 

Then, there is (or was) the neighbor who owned the house on the other side of our house when we moved in.

 

When my son and his girlfriend came over and visited us a few days ago, his memories turned to that other next door neighbor.

My son has fond memories of the  neighbor on the other side.  They were our neighbors for some 25 years before they passed away. They had six children, five of whom were grown at the time we moved in. They had already lived in their house for years.

I cherish a necklace my then young son made, with a lot of help from that neighbor, for me one Mother's Day.  It's made from rolled up church bulletins and plastic beads, but as far as I'm concerned, it's made from swarovski crystals. And yes, I wore it this past Mother's Day.

 

A couple of months ago, my spouse talked with the youngest son of that late neighbor on the other side. "C" was in high school when we moved into our house.  "C" is middle aged now and doesn't live locally. He has two grown children.   My son, when he was in his teens, loved spending time with "C".

 

Time flies.

 

So, about "C"'s father.  He was the best of neighbors. Remembering a man who was so generous, so giving, and also so kind to my son, I also thought of his late wife, who suffered from dementia, and who was as good a person as they come.  Her death was fall related. 

 

But then, dementia came calling for "C"'s father, too.

Dementia took someone who was once a wonderful person and changed his personality even as it robbed him of his memories.  What a sad thing it was seeing it happen.  He passed away in a nursing home at the age of 92.

"C" inherited the house.  Not living locally, he rented the house out for several years.  The last renter's occupancy (we were told by "C") did not end well.  

What a nightmare "C" went through at the end of that tenancy.  But now, another family member has moved in, at least for now. Let's hope...

Meanwhile, we can hope that the other neighbor's house is sold into good hands.

Neighborhoods depend on the goodness of the people who live there.

And yes, I'm holding my breath.