Keeping Memories o Our Neighbors Alive

I went to my neighbor's funeral yesterday.  She was 89 years old.  Near the end of the service the officiating pastor said he knew that the deceased effected us, as you effected her.  Whatever she did that we were exposed to changed our lives some and whatever we did in her presence change her or altered her life some.  

Maybe he is right, everybody effects everybody that he or she comes in contact with.

He went on to say in the next couple of days think about the deceased some and think of what memories you have of her.

It is like as long as you remember things about her you are keeping her spirit alive.  When you and everybody else quits is when her spirit disappears.  Poof!   I am just speculating that is what he was saying, maybe not.

However,  while sitting there it got me thinking of her and her late husband.  She was sort of a recluse - she stayed in all the time.  And her husband was always out working in the yard.

Which was my problem.  I dreaded to work in the yard because I knew that he would come over and see what I was doing and try to help me when I prefer to work alone, it is my therapy. 

One time he came over with his equipment and wanted to change  headlights on my truck because he said he saw me ride by and a headlight was out.  I  had seen the truck with the light out too,  it wasn't my truck but one that was the same color in the neighborhood.   I showed him the headlights worked and he said that just meant it had a short in them.  I still would not let him look under the hood, he always made things worse.

One time he saw my garbage cans on the side of the street and rolled them down where he thought they belonged.  We were not home so I did not know they were not at the street, so the garbage pickup company  rode on by, I suppose.  I had to carry our garbage to the county dump.  Later he told me he some kids must have rolled my garbage can up by the street but he rolled them back down.  I told him it was garbage pickup day the reason I put them on the street.  I couldn't get mad at him because he thought he was doing me a favor.

I remembered he and my riding lawnmower.  One time I loaded my lawnmower into my pickup truck and was about to take it to a mechanic.  Jim came over and asked me why do that when he can fix it.  I said the battery and the starter were not making a connection.  For about a day he banged on it and told me he fixed it, but now I would have to put a screw driver down to serve as electric conductor from my battery to the starter.... I got shocked several times trying to get the blame thing started after that.

I decided the only way to slip the lawnmower out of the neighborhood without him seeing it was to have my son come over to help me load the lawnmower in the truck on the opposite side of the house  in the evening when I knew my neighbor would be settling down for the evening.   We got the lawnmower on the back of the truck and I backed the truck up in the carport. 

The next morning I drove off with the lawnmower before daylight and left it in a shop to be repaired.  I used the push mower while it was gone.  I don't think my neighbor ever caught on.