April. 29, 2013 Fences Don't Make Good Neighbors

Three years ago I had words with my neighbor over a fence.  He wanted to put up a tan fence along the property line between our homes. I wanted white to match our already existing fence on the north side of our yard so declined going in on the cost.  I figured we would just put up our own later down the road. He was furious and even put up an additional panel extending past the front of his house to be sure he couldn't see our "shit"....not sure to what he was referencing since we don't have "shit" in our front yard;  our dog "shits" in the back. We didn't speak for over a year and had to warn my kids to stay out of his yard and earshot of his offensive language towards me. 

Tonight I went out front and I saw Randy in his yard.  He started walking toward me and I walked toward him.  As we approached each other we cried. He said how sorry he was for the loss of Gracie and wanted us to know what good parents he thinks we are.  "You are always out with your kids when so many others aren't."  It meant so much to hear him say this because it was true.  We are ALWAYS outside with our kids. Jeremy was outside with Gracie.  He didn't send her out to play.  He went in to check on the baby as Gracie played in our secure, fenced, dog protected, backyard and he came back out.  In fact, one of the things I will remember the most was pulling into the subdivision after leaving Gracie at the hospital and seeing all these little kids playing in their front yards, unattended. Jeremy actually had to slow down to allow one to get out of the road.  Not sure if I said it or just thought it really loud, "Are you kidding me?"  

Randy is moving and was concerned at not being able to visit his mother's grave. She is at the same cemetery as Gracie. I asked when his mom's birthday is and I'll be sure to visit for him. When he said her birthday is May 28th I was so confused I had to ask again.  He repeated, "May 28th".....Gracie's Birthday!