A few days after Fred was gone, when my house was still filled with family, my next door neighbor came over to tell me that they were moving in less than a month. I was shocked. They'd been next door for seven years and I would miss them. But, their moving placed an additional stress on me well beyond the loss of a neighbor.
We live in one unit of a triplex that we own. The other two units are rented, so on top of everything else I was dealing with at that moment, I would need to find new renters and get the unit completely ready for them. She apologized for the timing, but on the day after my husband passed away, they had received notice that they were being transferred to Kansas City . Her husband would leave in a week, and she and the girls would stay until the end of February to pack and clean the apartment.
My daughter and granddaughter were sitting together on the couch, following this conversation and carrying on a side conversation of their own. After a few minutes had gone by, my daughter interrupted us. "Sara has something to say."
"We'd like to live there," Sara said. "If that's okay." Of course that was okay! I couldn't think of anything that would make me happier than to have my granddaughter and her sweet hubby next door.
I silently wondered, "Fred, did you have anything to do with this?" It was exactly the kind of thing I might expect from him, and the timing was surprisingly coincidental.
During those last few months when he knew he didn't have long, he became more and more concerned about my safety and well being. He hated for me to go anywhere without him, because, what if ... ? He reminded me, "Hold the railing", whenever I went up or down the stairs, and, "Is the door locked?" was a frequent question.
Most emphatically, though, he didn't want me to ever live alone. What if something happened and no one was there to help me? He insisted that I must either go to live with our daughter or ask our son to move in with me. I tried to assure him that lots of people live alone, and they're just fine, but he was adamant. I changed the subject, but he came back to it several times every day.
I've spent most of March getting that apartment ready for my granddaughter, and her hubby. It has a master bedroom and bathroom on the main level, and another two bedrooms and full bathroom on the walkout level. They don't need all that space, so they invited my grandson to move in, too! I'll have both of my grandbabies right next door!
The kiddos have been filling cupboards and closets, and the moving van comes tomorrow. I am so excited!
No, Fred, I won't be living alone. Not really.
