Today I drove mom to her CT scan. There was no waiting, they took her right in, we were done in 15 mins!
After, we turned on a game show, but in the meantime we reminisced about living in our house. In 60 years, a lot of neighbors come and go.
There was the crazy lady on the left who at one point was selling drugs. On the right, were many different families. Susie and Mikey first; they moved out when the parents divorced. Then another family moved in. One night, I took my siblings and neighbor kids bowling. When we got home, the street was blocked off by firetrucks. I remember being panicked that it was OUR house. Turns out the little girl next door was playing with a lighter and started a bed on fire.
Across the street, we called it the Jones' house, Mom noticed a LOT of cars coming and going, eapecially mid day, mostly men. Turns out there was some kind of brothel going on!!!
You never really know what your neighbors are up to. But it pays to keep your eyes open.
There was a spot on the block shaded by trees where a guy decided to live in his vehicle. Made Mom nervous as she lived alone at the time. Another time, some guy just let himself into her backyard while she was out there working on her garden. After that, she kept the gate locked.
This was all in a nice part of town, but you just never know.
Being able to reminisce with her is good. But it doesn't make for conversations filled with meaning. I struggle with this aspect of our life. Sometimes I'm the daughter, sometimes I'm the caregiver. We are friendly, but I'm not sure you'd call us friends. It's kind of sad, but we lived apart so many years, she doesn't know much about me. And if she learned certain parts of it, she wouldn't approve. But then, most kids have things their parents don't know. That part hasn't changed at all!
