I THANK GOD FOR MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS

RIP Miss Mary

Back in 2007 I had the pleasure of having a nice neighbor.  She was 76 years at the time.  One day as I was walking to my car we met.  She told me she was a widow and a former school teacher.  She lived an extreme healthy life style.  Everyday, she would walk 12 miles.  Six miles in the early morning and 6 miles in the evening.  She lived alone in a one bedroom house.  I admired how thin she was and how much stamina she had. 

She had a large family yet nobody came to visit her.  During Thanksgiving, she would travel long distance all the way to Kentucky to see some of her family.  Every holiday she was all alone and at times I felt sorry for her.  She lived very frugal.  One time she invited me into her home and it must have been 105 outside but inside her home it felt like as if I was in an oven.  I asked her if her air conditioner was working.  She said, "Oh, it works just fine however, I do not use it due to high electric bill."  I was stunned looking around her living room.  She had two formerly white sofas that were a lighter shade of beige and needed repair.  Her dining room table had one chair.  A flute leaned against her living room wall.  At times I could hear her playing her flute.  Lonely sad music.  She had plenty of income but chose to live so frugal.  She did decorate the outside of her house with beautiful plants surrounded by a second hand bench she found at a yard sale. 

I moved away six years ago.  Today, I found out she died on July 3, 2013.  I asked my friend what happened.  She told me that "Mary" fell down and broke her hip one day as she was walking on her second 6 mile of the day.  After that the Osteoporosis kicked in and left her hunched over almost all the way down to the floor.  She could not walk anymore.  Her family never came to see her but when Mary died, they all came down to take her remains to Kentucky.

I think about her and thank God I have a loving family and a bunch of friends that care about me.  I remember Jeannette and how we all showered her with love and wanted nothing more than to have her win her battle with cancer. 

I thank my God everyday that I am blessed.  Truly blessed.  Even though I no longer have my Nettle Poodle.