Pete and Maria live next door to me, and I don't think I ever told either one of them what good neighbors they have always been. When my mother lived here, Pete kept an eye on her during the day. Back then she didn't need so much care as now, but still it lightened my load knowing that we'd moved into a house with caring people right across the yard.  Mom wanted a flower bed in front of our house, and Pete came over with the tiller to work the hard ground so that she could plant her flowers. She was so proud of that flower bed and how easy the soil was to work after that. Mom was a Mississippi farm girl who appreciated the value of good neighbors, and she taught that value to me, and I passed it along to my daughter.

It seemed that we were always on the receiving end, so when his mower was in the shop, I gladly loaned him mine. There were so many things they did for us. I don't think I could thank them enough, so I hope Maria reads this and knows how much I love and appreciate them both.

The one thing that surprised me was this. My daughter's last job was delivering pizza. I didn't like the idea at all, but she was so proud that she'd found a job relatively quickly after quitting her job at a local restaurant. And she found those two jobs all by herself, no help from anyone. Still I would wait up at night for her to arrive home safely. I would try not to think about all the possible mishaps she encountered, the danger, the people who could take advantage of her. As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who waited up. 

After my daughter's death at home last fall, Maria and I were talking about her. Pete and Maria had taken an interest in her, but I didn't know to what extent until that day. Maria told me that neither of them liked that she was delivering pizza. I confessed that I didn't like it either, but she was 21 and I'd taught her to make her own decisions. Then Maria told me that Pete would wait up at night when my daughter was out. When he finally saw her car in the driveway and knew she was home safe, he went to bed. 

You can't find neighbors better than that. I miss Pete. I miss that friendly, although sometimes sleepy and grumpy "Good Morning" when we're both taking out the trash. I miss the watchcare. Thank you Pete and Maria for being not just good neighbors but caring friends.