October 4, 2010: Goodbye, Dear Neighbor

Neighbor Pat

My dear neighbor, Pat, is gone. They moved her into an assisted living apartment last week, after several trips to the hospital and to rehab for recurring pneumonia and C. Diff infections. It all began with her knee surgery, then a fall in her bathroom, on to being allergic to Bandit, her new dog. It just went downhill from there. We saw her today, and she was using a walker and had lost a lot of weight.

The family came in this weekend and cleaned out her house. I guess they are going to have an estate sale later, then put the house up for sale. It will seem odd not having Pat there, after living next to each other for over twenty years. Bandit has gone to Spokane to live with Pat's son. If they can't find him a good home, they will keep him. They have a large dog that Bandit loves and follows around, so I hope he can continue to live with them.

Pat seems pretty cheerful about her move. She has a small apartment, with kitchenette, living room, bedroom and bath. There's a small patio, and they took several of her large planters of flowers over for her to place there with her patio chairs. I will try to get over for a visit before we leave for Arizona. No, I won't try, I will visit. We need to sit on her patio and have a final iced coffee before the weather turns too cold.

There were a lot of things Pat can't have with her. She and her husband spent several years living in Thailand, and she had quite a collection of mementos, large and small, from that country. It will be difficult clearing out years of living in that large house and fitting even a small portion of it into a small apartment.


One thing she will have no use for are her empty canning jars, so she had them sent over to me. They came with a nice (large) wicker basket, that will be perfect for harvesting vegetables. I only wish I would be sharing them with her.