Dried Leaves

Shirley, my neighbor died last Thursday. I attended her funeral yesterday. I only met her once, a month ago. Very frail, old. She died of cancer. I'm friends with her husband, Red.

Red and I talk gardening. He cuts Bernice's grass every week and he stops and talks to me when he sees me walking over to the garden. I think he is in his 80's and you wouldn't know it. He still has buckets of energy. So it seems.

This is what I wanted when I moved here. I wanted a neighborhood. A garden. Funerals. Weddings. Neighbors that really talk to each other about what was going on in the neighborhood. Red is an original owner. He has lived on Lanier for over 40 plus years.

Shirley is buried a block from Red's house on Lanier, Sharon Memorial Park/Cemetery. Under a huge oak tree. Her grave is a few markers down from John Golightly's grave. I really like that name.