Slice of Life - Neighbors

Carol and Amy at my dining table

Amy, Carol and me back in the day

Slice of Life is a weekly prompt to encourage writers to tell personal history stories. Click on the link to participate.

I have been blessed with great neighbors. I still have many friends who started out as neighbors. Sylvia has lived down the street for the past 20 years. She has a great joy in life and is an inspiration to me. She has faced loss and pain and she can't see well enough to drive any more but she works in her yard, cooks great Spanish food, makes jewelry and goes dancing every week. She has two grandchildren who are the same age as two of mine. Her daughter-in-law was recently crowned Mrs. Florida.

I met Mary when she lived on the next block in my old neighborhood. Our sons were the same age. She has been a true friend for more than 25 years. (Hard to believe!) Our lives have paralleled each other's in many ways and my house is full of gifts and garage sale purchases from her house to mine.

Back in 1980 Pat and Mary Beth lived a few apartments down from my husband and me during the year we spent in Pennsylvania. I was lonely and pregnant and my husband was out driving a truck across the country. I was so glad to see another pregnant lady one day. Mary Beth and I drank hot tea and watched soap operas together in the afternoon until my baby (Jaime) came early and then she was a great support to me, baby sitting the new baby when I needed a break. Her husband, Pat, became friends with my husband as well. I have lost track of them over the years, but I will never forget them.

Back in the 70's when my son was small and I lived in Arkansas, Carol was my neighbor, friend and co-worker. She had a little girl who was my son's age. She wasn't just a friend but was my family while I was far away from my own family. We will always be the best of friends. I believe the first charge she ever put on her first credit card was to come and visit me in Florida after I had moved away.

Back in the '60's I fell in love with the handsome boy next door.

Now my newest neighbor is my daughter, Jaime. They live a few blocks away. They are close enough to walk by in the evenings with the dog and Mia in a stroller. My grandson can and does ride his bike over almost every day. Dishes, tools, food and children move often from her house to mine. Thank God for good neighbors!