Neighbors

I have this sweet neighbor named Tom. He calls me "darlin" and watches out for me. I feel like he's almost been an adopted grandfather to me. (My own grandfather died when I was 14 and the other lived far away, so I've really liked having some one like that in my life again). He and his wife have been married for sixty years and they've lived in the same little house on Laurel Street for their entire married lives. Tom is the heart of our neighborhood. He knows everyone's name. He has time to chat every day, and even those he has one of those annoying little yippy dogs, I always look forward to seeing him.

In the last few months he and his wife have been sitting on the porch every evening. They just sit together....you can tell that they've been together for a lifetime and just really love each other. She's not been in good health this past year. In the spring, she rushed to the hospital one morning at 3 am.

On Monday, I woke up at 4:30 to hear a car door slamming. I noticed that Tom's car was gone all the time this week and his kids and grandkids cars came and went. I've been so worried that something happened to his wife. I can't imagine Tom without her. I can't imagine what it would be like to spend a life time with some one you loved and then lose them. Happily, this morning I found out that she had gone into the hospital for knee replacement surgery and breezed through it.

A few minutes ago I was standing in my kitchen washing dishes when I heard the car door slam. I looked out the window to see Tom bring his bride home. His daughter was with him but he was the one who went to the door and helped her out. He was the one who helped her struggle up the stairs and held her in his arms as they walked through the door.

In a time where marriage vows seem to mean very little and where men often seem to have lost the sense of what it means to really take care of a woman, it deeply touched my heart to see this eighty-something year old man take tenderly care for his wife. That is a picture of lifetime friendship and love. I'm so glad to have them home (even the yippy dog).