It was a sunny Friday afternoon when the neighbor and I stood on the sidewalk and were surrounded by all that was good in the neighborhood.
The little girl’s blonde hair was a blur when she flew by on the bike she had just learned to ride. A brand new Spider Man costume ran by with a happy little boy inside. The teenage boy mowed a lawn that wasn’t even his own. At the end of the street the toddlers giggled. Their mothers talked of trading babysitting and trading recipes. The man up the street was underneath his car, changing the oil. The man down the street was washing his car. His son was perfecting his skateboarding tricks. A jogger ran by and waved. A calico cat took a bath in the center of the road. Three big dogs trotted by, dragging their owner by a leash. You could hear the soccer practice at the nearby school.
All the grass was green because of last week’s rain. Next spring we would all have iris in our yards because one neighbor had shared her large bunch. One family would have apple pie that weekend, made from the apples that were shared by their next door neighbor. A 15 year old girl planned how she would wear her hair for the upcoming homecoming dance. She wondered if the neighbor girl she’s known since she was 4 years old was going to homecoming too. An elderly man, two houses up, said goodbye to the neighbor who had checked in on him. Some third grade girls ran to the neighborhood park to hang upside down on the monkey bars. The neighbor who always takes care of the park wondered if it might need some new bark. You could smell the barbeque from someone’s backyard. Another neighbor was finishing up the potato salad. Tonight, the neighbors would gather.
It was a sunny Friday afternoon when the neighbor and I stood on the sidewalk and were surrounded by all that was good in the neighborhood.
It was that same sunny Friday afternoon when the TV news reporter came to our neighborhood and stood on the sidewalk with the neighbor and I.
“Have you heard about the shooting?” she asked.
Have you heard about the horrible things and the awful stuff and the ugliness and the chaos?
Did you hear it was your neighbor?
Your neighbor was shot.
Your neighbor is dead.
Standing on that sidewalk, in the middle of our neighborhood, the neighbor and I knew that none of what the reporter had just said would ever make any sense to us.
You see, our neighbor was a big part of all that was good in the neighborhood.
It was past my bedtime on a dark Friday evening when I turned on the late night news. I saw my neighborhood on TV. The little girl’s blonde hair was a blur off in the distance as she rode her bike down the street. The grass was just as green from last week’s rain. You could hear a dog barking.
I heard the reporter’s voice coming from my TV.
“Neighbors say they are shocked. Neighbors say he was a good man.”
RIP RW
7 comments:
Oh my. I need to grab my kleenex. Don't know what happened but....wow. My condolences.
What a good blog. If only it were a happy one. Well written. But so sad.
Bravo. Enough said.
so sorry that there wasn't ALL good in the neighborhood!
How weird to have the reporter tell you about your neighbor. Seems a bit wrong. Good blog though.
Wow.
Yipes...I didn't hear about that...hope you are all doing okay!
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