The People We Meet

Since Al and I have been living in Beverly Hills, Michigan, the house directly behind us has changed hands several times. The person residing there when we moved into the neighborhood was elusive at first. Although our houses were not far apart, we never saw any signs of life—except for a light glowing through one of the windows or a car in the driveway. I wondered if we would ever meet the person who lived so close and yet seemed so remote.

Then one day our dogs began to make a commotion behind the garage. I went out to see what was happening and found someone climbing into the mystery neighbor’s yard through a hole in the barbed wired fence bordering both of our properties!

“Oh! Hi!” said a tall thin woman, obviously startled. “I like to walk in the cemetery, and this hole makes it quite convenient!”

Instead of a trespasser, it turned out to be the owner of the house. Had it not been for the dogs’ barking, we may not have ever met! After that first encounter, we enjoyed many chats over the back fence and eventually took walks together, but not through the hole in the cemetery fence!

She was from England and had a delightful way of expressing herself, along with a droll sense of humor. Although retired from teaching, her days were full and busy, being a docent at a local historical home as well as working various other part-time jobs.

 Usually on a sunny afternoon during the weekend, our neighbor would be outside planting tomatoes in containers or sprouts of various shrubs and trees. There was not much space available to plant, since her theory was not to interfere with anything that happened to spring up out of the ground. After more than thirty years, her two-story house was nearly engulfed in greenery, except for a well-worn foot path through the thick foliage in the back yard to the cemetery fence.

It was a sad day when I learned that she was moving out of town to live in the country. “But we’ll keep in touch,” she said. I’m so glad that we had the opportunity to get acquainted during our first four years in the neighborhood.

Eventually, two men who were into the “house flipping business” bought the home. Their first priority was to tear out nearly every growing thing on the property. It was heart-wrenching to watch, knowing how much the previous owner had loved her “plant babies.” The yard was bull-dozed and graded, a sprinkler system put in and new sod installed.

“Don’t drive by your house,” we told our friend. It would have been too much of a shock.

Al and I were able to meet the new owners as they worked on the remodeling that year or so following the sale. With all of the shrubs and greenery gone, it was easier to see them as they worked and to strike up conversations. They were also very friendly; however, they lived elsewhere and were planning on putting the house back on the market as soon as possible. When it was finally finished, they even took us on a tour. Very impressive!

Just recently, a dad and his two daughters moved in to the newly remodeled home. They set up a tall cage in the now bare backyard so that the two teenaged girls could practice playing Lacrosse and soccer. I showed them where the hole in the cemetery fence was in order to easily retrieve errant balls! Our friend, a cat-lover, was happy to know that the new owners also had a cat!

When the girls’ great grandmother visited from California on the occasion of her birthday, we chatted over the back fence. She, Zoila, was turning 102! Her advice on living to be a centenarian “plus” was: “Just keep growing. Whatever you do, keep growing!”

Good advice, Zoila! And what better way to keep growing than by getting to know the people God brings into our lives!

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4: 9-11 NIV

                                            (The neighbor's backyard behind our house)

                                                                    Before...

                                         

                                              (All landscaping removed, with just bare dirt...)

                                                      After....

                               

                                              (Now a practice 'field' of sorts!)