Neighbors

There's no reasoning behind it, but for some reason today I got to thinking about our neighbors when I was growing up. They were the neighbors to our left if you were facing our house in Westchester (where I lived for 19 years).For some reason today... well, lately... I've been feeling quite nostalgic. There is no rhyme or reason as to why, maybe it's the impending birthday...

Anyway, I'm sure my brothers and parents could tell better stories and have more stories about these wonderful people, but I will do what I can with the limited childhood memories I have to pay tribute to a couple that I saw as an almost third set of grandparents.

I don't remember him as well. He passed away when I was really young, but I do remember that he was kind. I'm sure the mental picture that I have of him is somehow skewed with the mental picture of my grandpa, so I won't try to describe him. but I can tell you that he was literally a lifesaver. A few times as a very young girl, I started choking (on carrots... they're still my favorite veggie) and he came over and saved my life. He was great. I recall talking to him; probably following him around and his never making me feel like a nuisance.

After he passed away, I would go over and spend time with her. She was a wonderful person who kept plastic down in the house to keep things clean and had little candies in a jar for us when we were over. I remember her as frail. A tiny woman with love in her eyes.

The house had that peculiar smell of ointments and cleaning supplies. I can't really describe it very well, but I remember it. It was often dim inside their house, but it could just be that I was mostly there in the summers when the shades were drawn to keep out the sun. It was light enough from the sun coming in through the space between the white pull down shades and the windowsill so the lights weren't on. Besides, I loved hanging out in their back porch. It was completely enclosed with windows that would open so the summer breeze would come in through the screens.

Sitting there with a glass of lemonade was the stuff of childhood dreams.

They were wonderful. And always wanted to spend time with us. I guess they was lonely, but I never knew it. I just knew that she was sweet, and he was a hero, and I loved them.