Honda 367

My next door neighbor passed away not too long ago. He was in his 90's. When we first moved in, he was in his 80's. He seemed very healthy at the time. He was mowing his own yard until couple of years ago. He was always working in his back yard pulling weeds. His wife had passed away many years before we came. His children all lived out of state. He lived alone without visitors. A few weeks ago, I became somewhat concerned as I hadn't seen him in awhile. He was a very private person who didn't interact much with neighbors. I was probably the only neighbor he engaged with since I live next to him. I called him but the call wouldn't go through. I became more alarmed and called 911 and asked for Health and Welfare Check. Police came and of course rest is tragedy. Apparently, he had passed away sometime ago. I am not sure if he ever thought this moment would come perhaps so suddenly. Since I called in, the Police actually came and asked me several questions. My brother is a prosecutor and told me at one time that I should never talk to the Police no matter what. But I answered all their questions. I imagine they treat every case like this with caution initially. Anyway, it is a sad situation. As I get older, I do think about this more somberly than when I was much younger. Each day is a blessing while we live and breathe. Keep close to your children and thank them when they call if they live far away and maintain good relationship with them if at all possible.

engifineer

Sad to hear, and very good advice. We never know and that includes when young. My dad and step mother used to bowl on a league. A woman they knew well from the league did not show up one night. She was about 40. Had an aneurism and literally fell down and was gone almost immediately. You really do not know when it will come! Not things we like to think about, but we should think about them!

MsPerky

Very sad that he was alone. I was thinking about this kind of thing when I resumed talking to a relative recently. Decided family was more important than principle.

dlq04

Deb, I agree. The wife has a cousin (they were raised together as sister's) who is dying of liver cancer. She has three children and only one knows. On her death bed (which where is now) she refuses to let the other two know of her condition. Some time ago the boy changed his address and phone number and stopped all contact with her. The other daughter refuses to apologize to her over a family money issue and she in turn refuses to have any contact with her daughter. I am a pretty skip tracer and could find them both but my first obligation is to respect her wishes.... it is her life, what she has left of it. At least she still has family near by that can see her as allowed. They are moving her to a new facility where she can have one visitor per day after 2 weeks quarantine.

Lainey

Sad situation when families are estranged and way more common that people think. Sorry to hear about Donna's cousin.

Also sad of the neighbor passing alone.

Our neighbor of 35 years is 88. His wife passed a few years ago. He has two guys mowing his lawn, Rick clears his snow and installs and removes his window AC unit for him. He is most appreciative. Most of his children are out of town. He has one local daughter, and I think a step son, but I know there was one year when he was waiting for a son in law to remove the AC. Rick just happened to notice it was still there and offered assistance.

The neighbor is a pretty busy guy, but we are sure to observe if his car hasn't left the driveway. We've also been inviting him to dinner every week or so, since many of his activities were curtailed with Covid. We can distance pretty well at our dining room table.......

dlq04

That's great Lainey you are there to give some assistance.

Lainey

He's a VERY nice man. As neighbors go, we got lucky. He and his wife were always most thoughtful when our grandchildren were little. Sidewalk chalk and bubble stuff would appear on my deck. School supplies, little gifts at Christmas. Though Rick tells him it's not necessary, a gift certificate for a restaurant usually shows up at Christmas time, to thank Rick for the snow clearing.

boltonblue

You never know when your lucky bingo ball will pop to the top.
My dad was 40 when his came up.
Tomorrow is a promise but not a guarantee.

zeroptzero

^ 40 is far too young, very sad. My Dad was given 2 years to live as soon as he retired. Unfortunately he sacrificed quite a bit of family life to work more, pursuing the ultimate goal of retiring. No guarantees is something I have learned.

In my daily life I come across quite a few people who lead similar lives as the OP's neighbour, it makes me a bit depressed about getting old to be honest.

dlq04

Hey, first off old is a state of mind. Damn, I know people half my age that are twice as old as me. The only thing aging can't change is health, aches, and pains. And the latter two are something you learn to deal with and work through.