And so it began

My neighborhood is typical of most newer neighborhoods and I sometimes wonder why we call them neighborhoods when these days knowing your neighbors is pretty much a thing of the past. When I first bought my house I had two wonderful neighbors in the houses next door but they moved as people tend to do these days. The folks who moved into the house next door were on the go a lot and my attempts at being neighborly pretty much went unnoticed. Apartments make up the main housing in my area; therefore, people come and go without much ceremony especially when they leave in the dark of night. One of my apartment neighbors is Patricia; she has been in her place for a long, long time. We share a love of books plus we’re the unofficial neighborhood watch. Not much gets by us on any given day or night. Patricia is the only neighborly person that I know in my neighborhood. However, a recent event taught me that your neighborly neighbors don’t have to live in close proximity to be there when needed or to be a part of your neighborhood.

As I mentioned before my mother came to live with me shortly after I bought my place. She was ill, my brother lives states away, so the load fell totally on my two shoulders; not that I minded; not much. Fast forward five years to October 30, 2005. I woke up, got my coffee, looked in on my mother and realized right away that she’d had a stroke. Of course I called 911. Public Safety in the form of Claude Edwards and his rookie partner were the first to arrive. They could not have been more helpful or nicer. The EMT’s got here fast did their thing and took my mother away and wouldn’t you know it being the night before Halloween some enterprising young trickster had given me a couple of flat tires which Claude and his partner handled with ease. They were not just being North Augusta Public Safety Officers; they were being caring, helpful human beings; neighbors.

By now you’re probably scratching your heads and wondering what has any of this got to do with neighborhoods? On that day, October 30, 2005, my neighborhood expanded beyond my wildest expectations or even beyond anything I ever wanted. North Augusta and Aiken County became my neighborhood along with lots and lots of new neighbors. My mother went to NHC for rehabilitation; they became my helpful neighbors. In February of 2006 when she came home she brought Regina Harrell, Amy Hane, Dana Hudson, Emily Hatcher, Beverly Miller, La Toya Brown, as well as a host of others. Regina is the C. N. A. who helps my mother with her shower; funny, sweet, all in all a wonderful person. Amy was her social worker; a gem if there ever was one. Beverly is the Physical Therapist who continues to push my mother to regain her former mobility; she also is a wonderful addition to the crew. Dana is the P. T. Supervisor that visits on a bi-weekly basis to assess but she is also a truly genuine person. I’m sure most of you know Emily, I didn’t but now that I do, I wish I’d known her before all this. She is La Toya’s Supervisor. La Toya is the newest of my new neighbors but just as welcome as the rest and just a peach of a person. Sure, these people get paid to come here. They get paid to do what they do, but they don’t get paid to be so nice or so caring; that comes from the heart. All of these good people work for NHC Homecare but all of NHC Homecare are not good people. It was a little stubbornness on my part plus the luck of the draw that brought all of these wonderful new neighbors into my neighborhood and this is my way of saying thanks and welcome to the neighborhood.

A few short weeks after I wrote this column I was singing a different tune. All those people, as nice as they were, were beginning to drive me crazy. Being invaded every single day by some relative stranger and messing up my routine was, to say the least, putting me in a foul mood. I began to resent them and my mother although she could not help what happened to her. However you grin and bear it and pray for it to end as soon as possible.