Her mood had to match the weather.
It was such a pleasant day. The sun was shining. A nice breeze. The temperature was in the mid-70’s. It was such a welcomed break from the heat wave that has consumed us the previous weeks. The day was perfect. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a light rain came down. No thunder. No lightening. Not a storm. Just a soft rain like the angels were crying.
The gentle rain continued most of the night. Then the next day the elements changed again. This time for the worse. It seemed as if the meteorologist was angry and decided we deserved a day of torture. The outdoor thermostat was set as high as it could go which made the day unbearable. I wondered if there was any relief in sight.
I also wondered if her mood was changing along side the weather patterns. Was she wondering if there was any relief in sight?
Last week, on that perfect sunshiny day, my neighbor found out that her 17 year old son had died. Like most of us, her day was humming right along just fine--until that knock on the door. And I am sure that she was crying right along with the angels when it started to rain. No there was no lightening or thunder. Just calm, quiet tears.
The next day, as the heat rose outside, I am sure hers did also. Why did this have to happen? What went wrong? Why him? Why me? What is a mom supposed to do? Questions only God Himself can answer.
It bothers me that a life so young has been taken. It bothers me that there are rumors that drugs were involved. It bothers me that a fellow mom is having to put her son into the ground way too soon.
But the thing that bothers me the most about the entire situation is that this is my neighbor. A neighbor whose name I don’t know. Whose face I couldn’t pick out of a line-up. Who attends the same house of worship as me. A neighbor who just received the worst news of her life and I …I don’t know how to help.
How can we live within yards of each other and not know each other’s names? How can we send our kids off to the same school on the same bus and not know one another? We have removed ourselves so much from society that we don’t know who we can call on in times of need. In times of rejoicing. When we need a hand or have a minute.
This young man’s death has sparked a cord in me to make sure we know each other. If that means I make a dozen trays of brownies and walk door-to-door introducing myself than so be it. I encourage you to do the same. Because it would be heartbreaking and distressful if you are the one burying your son and have no one to help you do it.
Get outside, walk the neighborhood and meet someone new in your community today, even if it is nasty weather.
Such a very sad and yet so true--how people don't know there neighbors. I am thankful to the neighbors I have. They are the reason we purchased our home. While house shopping we came apon this listing and thought that sounds like a nice location, lets take a look. Due to work schedules we could only look at the house in the evening. So as the sun is setting we go with the realitor to look at the inside of this house in this very small neighborhood. While checking out the indoor lay out we hear a little tapping on the front door. We all look at each other and think who would be knocking on an empty house's door. We open the door to find this very frail little old lady all of 80 some years. She knew the house was empty and thought someone was breaking in-- I looked at my husband and said I want this house. Because we could have been huge thugs and this little old lady didn't care she just want to make sure her previous neighbors house was not being violated... 10yrs later we still live there sadly she has passed but given us the opportunity to meet new neighbors.
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