Last night was PARTY TIME on our street! Well, the word party just might be stretching the truth somewhat. It was the celebration of the 85 years our neighbor Bob has been on this earth.
He and his sweet little wife were headed to bed about 7:30 when we surprised them with a birthday cake and candles! They were thrilled! They live next door right across the little creek that divides our property. Honeybuns and Bob share lawn mowing duties of that area and it is golf-course beautiful! Their kitchen and dining room windows look out toward our house and they keep a watchful eye on us.
We all laughed again about the day Bob came running to the rescue when Honeybuns put the riding lawn mower in the creek. And then were was the time Honeybuns scared away the teen-agers that were ringing their doorbell in the middle of the night. That's the kind of stuff good neighbors share!
About six month ago we began to see less and less of our elderly neighbors as they began to move slower, stay indoors more and go out to their favorite restaurant less and less. There have been a couple of incidents involving the fire dept. and rescue squad during that time resulting in hospital stays.
Their family members are long gone and their only daughter lives far away. Visitors are rare. And yesterday a big "For Sale" sign appeared on their front lawn. They have plans to move closer to their daughter as time creeps by and they see the need of more help for daily chores. It's a wise but difficult decision for them and a sad one for us, too.
The party of 4 was a big success as we again listened to tales of long ago. We learned that they "courted" on the back of a motorbike, he actually lived with his family in a tent for 3 years during the depression and they married in her mothers living room on his R&R from the Navy. He saw active duty in the Pacific during WWII.
Before they moved to this neighborhood they'd lived on a large farm and raised cattle.
Their eyes light up and both become more animated when they are transported by their memories to a younger and more carefree time.
I love having neighbors. The more, the better! Honeybuns dreams of buying some land so we could live out in the country. If that were to happen he would then drive into the city each day and interact with his co-workers and I would be stuck staring at the back end of a horse or some silly cow. Nope, that's not going to happen.
If we had chosen to live in the country when we moved to OK, we would never have met Bob and Imogene! And our lives would have missed them.
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