You see, my neighbor is moving today.
His house only went on the market
a month ago or less,
and the whole thing happened rather quickly,
yet not quickly at all.
You see,
we all knew this day was coming.
When my family moved into our house five years ago,
we met him (we'll call him Mr. Prince) and his wife pretty quickly.
It didn't take us long to figure out that Mrs. Prince
was in a state of mental decline.
This incredibly sweet older woman had Alzheimer's
(I figured this out once I realized that, while not the most exciting individual on the planet,
I could not possibly be THAT forgettable,
as I introduced myself time and time again!)
and it progressed alarmingly quickly.
Soon dear Mrs. Prince would be wandering the neighborhood
searching for her home,
or not remember how to open the door with her key.
She was always the sweetest, most precious thing, though.
I wish I had known her sooner.
Anyway, the time came for Mrs. Prince
to have more constant care,
so Mr. Prince moved her into a facility for Alzheimer's patients.
Every day, he would get in his car and go spend time with her.
:::sob:::
The time came, two years later, for Mr. Prince to move
out of his home and nearer to his wife.
So yes, we all knew it was coming.
And I won't deny,
there is a bit of excitement over the new neighbors,
who have a four year old child.
Most of the folks in our neighborhood are older
and my court is like the freaking Hotel California-
people move here and never leave!
We are the new folks on the block and we've been here five years!
Even so,
I am avoiding looking out my windows today
at the moving truck pulled up in the driveway.
I think about the years they lived there,
with their children running through the house pell-mell
and riding their bikes in the court.
I wonder what they imagined for their years after their children were grown and gone.
I can't imagine this was it.
Goodbye, Mr. Prince
and best wishes to you in your new home.
Give a hug to Mrs. Prince for us.
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1 comment:
Gulp!
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