Good Neighbors

Today, as I was walking at a neighborhood trail in town with a friend of mine, we were surprised to run into the couple who had lived next door to me in my house right out of college. I moved into a nice, 3 bedroom, ranch-style rental home in a suburban neighborhood with two dear friends from church, Jen and Lisa.

Clarence and Margaret were the best neighbors that three recent college grads (and their parents) could ever wish for. They were our parents' ages and had no children of their own so we were kind of adopted by them. They probably thought it was amusing to see the three of us try and take care of a house on our own. We, of course, had nothing to use in the upkeep of a house and had no idea that homeowners, or even home dwellers, were supposed to do things like prune the shrubs and refresh the pine straw in the natural areas every now and then until we got a letter from our landlord saying the house was looking rather unkempt:(. Clarence came over with electric clippers and taught us about pruning and shared his rake with us as we put down pine straw.

And then there was the toilet experience...our toilet backed up and who to call as it ran over onto the floor??? Clarence!!! We phoned and he was right over...plunging away.

Jen, Lisa, and I called our hang out times RTE's (Roommate Togetherness Events) and some of those times included walks through our neighborhood. Clarence hated the fact that we would often walk after dark on the quiet streets of our neighborhood. "What if you get hit by a car?", he would ask. "No way, that's silly", the invincible roommates replied. "That won't happen."

Clarence was not so sure. We came home from work one day and discovered three matching presents, just for our evening walks.

Reflective vests. Yes. He had purchased them for us and told us to wear them ANYTIME we walked after sundown. And the times we didn't? Well, let's just say we got a friendly reminder that that is what they were for. I can remember a few times we walked vest-less and spotted Clarence and Margaret on their evening walks, sporting their vests. We would duck down a different street to try not to be seen. It was like playing undercover agents.

Those were fun days, and Clarence and Margaret were fun neighbors- the best, really. It was great seeing them again, and I'll have to find that vest just for kicks.