Joan
We bought our house in September of 2013. It was kind of a fixer upper and mostly still is. Every year or two we spring for one of the big projects. Sometimes like the Ductless Air Conditioning they are planned and sometimes like the very expensive plumbing fix a few years ago they aren’t. The combination of a toy car that Captain Chaos, in perhaps the greatest editorial comment of all time, flushed down the toilet, a seventy year old Cast Iron take out, and some overly enthusiastic snake guys, led to us parting with a significant amount of cash.
We moved in to our fixer upper that October of 2013. While the house wasn’t perfect, the neighborhood was. The neighbors were the perfect combination of friendly but not nosy. The house is on a large but not too large lot, half an acre. There were tall trees that provided a lot of shade. Sadly the combination of storms and ants mean there are less trees now but the neighborhood is still great.
We were the new young family when we moved in. The neighbors across the street from us were nice enough. I liked the wife and didn’t care for the husband. The neighbors across the road are awesome and I love talking to them. They seem to like my books and taste in music. The neighbors on the opposite side of the house moved in a couple of years after we did. They are very nice and I am lucky to share a lot line with them. The last set of neighbors were Fred and Joan.
Fred was a retired accountant and Joan was a retired school nurse. They were empty nesters and genuinely very nice people. I think they were relieved that my only objectionable habit as a neighbor was my lack of attentiveness to the lawn. That and I don’t rake and bag leaves, in favor of mowing and mulching them.
Fred passed away a couple or three years ago. I made sure to make more time to talk to Joan whenever I ran into her at the mailbox or outside doing yardwork. She would let me know when she was out of town so that I could watch her house. When she asked if my oldest son could help her with the trashcans the answer was a no brainer. “Of course”. She wanted to pay him but I wouldn’t allow it. As it was every Halloween and Christmas the gave the boys cards with a little cash in them.
Recently I met Joan’s son. He was up from North Carolina working on the house. His mother had moved down there last week. He was up getting the house ready for whatever comes next. He shook my hand and thanked me sincerely for; “looking out for his mom”. Whatever I said, I know it was inadequate. His mother was my neighbor and friend. She is a genuinely nice and generous person. She is exactly the type of person you look out for when you have them as a neighbor.
Her son owes me no thanks. It was our privilege.