Our neighbors are also in their mid-80's. I have never met the wife. However her husband have been a good neighbor. Five years ago, he volunteered to mow my front yard, because he was bored and saw that my yard needs some mowing. When I offered to pay him the standard fee of $25 he refused. Since then I have seen him only two to three times walking on the side walk with a blank stare on his face. I once waved at him but he appeared not to recognize me.
Yesterday when I woke up David III was gone. I thought he went to work. Thirty minutes later he was home with boxes of tools, paper products and dozens of boxes of bric-a brac ( storage bins etc..). He told me our neighbor had a Garage and House Sale ( Everything in the House including furniture, Garden tools etc.. are For Sale). Thousands of items are scattered all over the house including the back and side yards and of course in the driveway.
I told David III to watch his Mom for a while so I can attend the Sale. There were so many people in the house, our whole street was lined with parked cars and Vans. I stayed for about 15 minutes, purchased 4 garden books, 2 pruners, some live plants, fertilizers, and an ash tray for $10. David III purchased $100 worth of goodies.
I asked one of the ladies managing the sale what happened. She told me the lady of the house died last year. Moreover, the old man ( the one who mowed my lawn for free) is showing signs of Dementia. Their children decided to sent him to a nursing home and now is preparing the house for sale. It is a beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath home beautifully landscaped with a jacussi and hot tub. The lady I talked to was one of the three daughters of the couple. She told me her parents had been married for 60 years( last year) and will be 61 years this year. What a coincidence?
While looking at the thousands of items scattered all over the house ( Inside and Outside) reminded me of all the things Macrine and I had accumulated also for the last 61 years of our married life. The same event will probably happened when both of us are incapacitated. As a memory of our neighbor, I purchased one of his WELCOME yard sign and placed it my front yard.
Now back to our coming 61st wedding anniversary. We have not planned a party. Macrine, David III and I will just probably have dinner at Red Lobster and order our favorite dishes- Lobster, Shrimps and Dungeness Crab and of course wine( Johanesberg Reisling).
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