For over a decade, we have shared good times. Parties by her poolside, Easter Egg hunts in our backyard. We have said that we really have one big yard separated by a fence with a gate they put in just for us. Carte blanche access to their pool, carte blanche access to our redwood playscape and our gate to the hike and bike for their grandchildren. My children consider her a grandmother, the only one they've ever really known.
We have shared bad times. Family illnesses and deaths, job losses and gains. We have been each other's sounding boards through emotionally turbulent days and weeks. And then the worst times of all happened: her husband, the jester who loved her with his whole heart and loved our children like a grandfather, passed away after two rounds of cancer.
Since his death, she has been running, unable to stay long in their home alone. A week with family in one state, home for two weeks, then a weekend away someplace else. Three weeks at home, then a vacation in Mexico. We understood, collected her mail, took care of her cats.
She is one of the Virgos my mother sent to watch over me, the only one who's really still around. Only soon, she won't be.
A few weeks ago, she came over to tell us that she'd reconnected with a classmate at her high school reunion. He makes her happy, and we are happy for her. But...her happiness is taking her away from us. I've spent my Spring Break watching landscape crews clean up the yard, power washers cleaning her walls and driveway, handymen fixing fence boards. Her children arrived at the end of the week with rented moving trucks, loading them up with memories to carry on in their own homes.
There will be more good memories to come--her wedding, to start. She has already offered to host us for visits to her new home, three hours away. I know we'll take her up on her offer. But it won't be the same as being able to walk next door to show her my new shoes or share our educator stories.
Happy for her, sad for us. Good neighbors are treasures; will the next occupants measure up?
All the details you included allow me to feel your loss of this beloved next-door-neighbor. The movement through your piece reminds me that life is moving fast and filled with change. Glad you are taking time to treasure what's in front of you.
ReplyDeleteIt is heart-wrenching to lose the physical closeness of ones we love. Now, I'm wondering about the gate between your backyards... a symbol of your closeness. Will that be a clue to new owners? Will it still swing both ways? Or will it need to be replaced with fencing? I hope for you that you are gaining another dear neighbor.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky you and your children were to have such a neighbor. I hope she finds happiness and peace in her new adventure. Maybe just maybe someone exciting will move in next door. More memories to come!
ReplyDeleteYour friendship sounds like she has been absolutely wonderful. Those kind of neighbor/family are so hard to find. It sounds like she is moving on to new happiness, though, which is also terrific. I hope the people who move in will be just as wonderful!
ReplyDelete