GOOD NEIGHBORS

We moved into our Stephenville home in December 2000.  Several days later we awoke to snow-covered ground.  We were drinking our morning coffee when we saw two strangers in the front yard.  They were building a snowman.  Neighbors had come to welcome us.

The couple became good friends.  We shared many cups of coffee and meals with them.  They had a peach orchard and a grove of pecan trees.  We enjoyed the fruits of their labor.  We always had fresh peaches in the spring and early summer.  I made peach pies, cobblers, and peach preserves.  In the fall they brought pecans for wonderful goodies.

They loved to ride in the Model A pictured on this site.  She took art lessons.  One of her projects was a picture of us riding in the old car.

As the years passed, she began to have memory problems.  She was prescribed medication in the form of a patch.  We were conversing in their living room one afternoon.  She couldn’t recall what she wanted to tell us and remarked that she had not put on her patch that morning.  He was mildly upset that she had not put it on.  She looked at him directly in the eye and said, “Don’t worry about it.  I still remember your name.”  We all chuckled and continued talking.

It was a sad day when he finally admitted that he could no longer adequately care for her at home.  It was even sadder as she reached the stage when she no longer remembered his name or knew who he was.

She left this life in November 2018.  She is whole again.