New Neighbors

October 22, 2012



This weekend I actually talked to my new neighbors. They have been living across the street from me for almost a year but I have avoided them like the plague. Why? Last November, while I was in Columbia on a medical mission, my then husband met them first. They lived in Manhattan a few blocks from where we had our studio and they were thinking of buying this house as their retirement home. He told me all this on the phone even as he was planning to leave me. I was excited and thought we could all become friends. But you all know how that turned out.

So, I have been studiously avoiding them even though they have tried very hard to engage me in conversation. I didn't want to have to explain my "situation." It's still very hard for me to tell people without that little quaver in my voice. I never brought the "welcome to the neighborhood gift" and tried not to get my mail when they were out in the yard. But last week Chuck accepted a package for me and left it at my door with a note. So I decided it was time to "get over" my reticence. I went over and apologized for my lack of manners and explained that it had been a difficult year for me. But he already knew about my divorce and was very supportive. I was glad I had my sunglasses on because I know there were tears threatening to spill.

We exchanged phone numbers before I left. So all the angst I had in meeting them was only of my own making. And now I have new friends right across the street.