Boyink! - Spring Forward on the Web

Within the past couple of weeks we noticed we had lost another long-term neighbor on our street, and it greatly saddens me.

This happened already earlier this year - a gnawing sensation of gone-ness that finally develops into certainty.  These people, these neighbors, these folks we’ve waved to and brought Christmas treats to for 14 years, this Asian family with the little girls we watched grow into young women, these people are gone.

And not just “hey, he got a new job and we’re moving!” kind of gone.  Or “hey, we outgrew our house so bought a bigger one!” kind of gone. 

No, this is the type of gone where no one saw them pack up and move.  One day they were there, the next day the house looks like the shell of a lost loved one, laying with eyes closed in the casket.  Oh - we hoped it was just a vacation and in a couple of weeks they would be back with the cars filling the driveway, the grill going in the garage, and the raised hands (often with a beer in them) as we drove by.

But no, it’s been at least a month.  The grass is overgrown.  Trash is laying in the driveway.  The mail is unclaimed.  Before too long a bank notice will appear on the door and we’ll see a locksmith truck in the driveway.  Soon after, a Realtor sign in the yard.  Maybe the grass will be cut, the bushes will get trimmed and the garage door will get painted.

And, with any luck, a few weeks later some cars will visit.  And be back for another visit.  And the Realtor sign will get pulled out of the grass and leaned against the side of the garage.  The front doors will be propped open while a overladen truck backs up the drive.

One foreclosed house on our street is already healing, with a young family filling its walls and a new baby swing hanging from the branches of the lush oak in the front yard.  We hope this one follows suit.

And we hope that, wherever they are, our former neighbors know we feel the regret of not stopping more and talking.  Of not learning names.  Of not just being flat-out better at living close by. 

We hope they know they are missed.

Comments are closed, but you can read the comments other people left.

1. Chad Crowell on August 24, 2010

   It is sad. But itsmgreat that you notice and remember the little things. I’d expect nothing less from you frankly.

   In my parents neighborhood out here about 1 in every 5 houses was foreclosed last year. It was eerie. Getting better now though.

2. Boyink (Author) on August 24, 2010

   Thanks Chad.  I thought we were on the upswing here too but the insurance guy we met with yesterday said there are more foreclosures this year than last.

3. Donna Maukonen on August 27, 2010

   We’ve had only two foreclosures near us, but neither was a long term resident - one rental, one never actually lived in by the owners. We’re in an unusual area, though, living near the river. It’s not a place that anyone moves into without great intention, and maybe that’s the difference.

   Our sadness came when one of our older neighbors passed. We don’t see him waving from his car as he passed us while we were picking up our mail.  We miss his hound dogs howling at us from behind an ivy covered chain link fence. His mulberry tree produced fruit for the first time in years, and he wasn’t there to celebrate the bounty.

   Either way, sudden departures are sad, and we also think about what we should have done better as neighbors.

   Good post.

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