Not so evil neighbor !

One of our neighbors is a real busybody. Her husband used to be the vice president of the home owners association, and their idea of a fun evening was to get a pen and paper and walk around in the neighborhood to find violations they could report. For real! I often saw them pointing and writing. And of course that put us on the spot, as we got reported on every little thing: please mow the yard, there are weeds in the back, please trim your trees, there are palm fronds hanging down etc etc. So not too surprisingly we are not that fond of these guys. Just little things like that all the time. Our other neighbors are wonderful, and they have lived here since the house was built, just like the "evil" neighbor, and they never speak to them either, since it is the same story there.

In fact, to know which neighbor Ken and I are talking we always refer to them as the "nice" and the "evil" neighbor...

So this morning when I was on my way back from walking the dogs I saw her walking towards me. I figured she was going to complain about our grass, since it is in the middle of tax season Ken just haven't had a chance to get to it, and with spring just waking everything up I know it needs a mowing...

So I just tried to hide under my hat, pretending not to see her, but she was on a course straight towards me! Oh boy, I was gonna get it now! She told me she had some bad news about her husband. (He has been sick on and off for a year or so). He had all of a sudden died this past Friday, while they were driving! They had just been to a doctor's appointment, and he felt great, in fact, they were even planning a vacation. They stopped to get some groceries, and in the car on the way home he said he felt a bit sick, and maybe they shouldn't have fish for dinner after all... She replied that they could freeze it, no problem. He then said he was feeling light headed, and she told him to put his head between his legs, but he just slumped together and died! Just like that! She raced back to the doctor's office since it was close by, and the ambulance was their ein no time, but there was nothing they could do to save him. They aren't sure yet what he died from, could be a number of things.

But oh boy do I feel bad! I gave the woman a big hug and just held her for a moment. After all, we are all just people, and I feel very bad for her. She has just lost her life companion! We talked for a long time and I tried to offer her as much solace as I could, but what can you really say? I also made sure she understands I am here if there is anything at all I can help her with, or if she just wants to talk. Both their families are up in Wisconsin, so she is all by herself until her sister comes down in a few days.

It sounds like she is at peace with what happened. They had been very restrictive in their lives lately due to his illness, so she felt he was in a happier place now.

Here I haven't directed a friendly thought towards this woman during the 4 years I have lived here, and then in an instance you get reminded that we are all just people. I will try not to let grumpy or mean or otherwise not-so-nice people get to me in the future.

Maybe if I treat them as I would like to be treated myself it will somehow rub off on them and they will soften up. Who knows?