Sadness on my block...
I know I have previously mentioned my issues with my “rake loving” neighbor. Well since August 1st, when I saw him taken away in an ambulance, he has been diagnosed with lung cancer that spread to his spine and his brain. That was 18 days ago. Yesterday he was going to have surgery to alleviate the pressure on his spine that prevented him from walking and feeling comfortable. In the early morning hours he called his wife who slept in the house next door to mine, to say he was in a lot of pain. He told her that he loved her and asked that she tell their two daughters that he loved them also. They got off the phone and she didn’t feel right. She got out of bed, got dressed and headed to the hospital, which is barely more than five minutes from our homes. When she arrived at the hospital she was told he’d died five minutes earlier.
I’m not sure how old George was…my guess is that he was in his early sixties. Despite his obsession with yard care and early morning lawn mowing, he was a good neighbor. It’s upsetting to look out my window and know that there’s so much sadness in the house next door. But last night their kids were there, and probably some other close friends. I could see that they were gathered around a table in the kitchen. At 10pm (an hour when the house was usually dark and quiet) there was laughter, loud and hearty, memory sharing, story swapping laughter.
This weekend Barbara and I will probably go to the wake where it will become very real that this fall will come and go with no chicken wire fence to keep my leaves off of his property. Last year I left the leaves out there just to spite him. This year I’ll rake them (at least once) in his honor.
I’m not sure how old George was…my guess is that he was in his early sixties. Despite his obsession with yard care and early morning lawn mowing, he was a good neighbor. It’s upsetting to look out my window and know that there’s so much sadness in the house next door. But last night their kids were there, and probably some other close friends. I could see that they were gathered around a table in the kitchen. At 10pm (an hour when the house was usually dark and quiet) there was laughter, loud and hearty, memory sharing, story swapping laughter.
This weekend Barbara and I will probably go to the wake where it will become very real that this fall will come and go with no chicken wire fence to keep my leaves off of his property. Last year I left the leaves out there just to spite him. This year I’ll rake them (at least once) in his honor.