Friday 6 July 2007

Sad Day


Our neighbour, Gill, moved today. She sold her house a few months back and as of today she longer lives there.

I am deeply saddened by this. With Marc's mum all the way down on the Isle of Wight and my parent's living 5000 miles and a very long expensive plane journey away our children greatly benefited from having Gill act as a surrogate grandmother.

She was a former district nurse so when I had the typical parent panic stricken moments agonising over high fevers and raspy coughs she would always soothe my anxiety and suggest whiskey. For me, not them. I liked that pragmatic approach.

She would drop round on Saturday mornings early (by 8 am) still in her dressing gown for a cup of coffee and more than once she popped in for Sunday breakfast when she smelled the bacon cooking. I loved that about her.

She was always available for gardening advice and her garden always made me envious.

She's an avid reader and we swapped books all the time. None of her recommendations have left me disappointed.

She babysat for us and insisted that Marc and I go out once a month for some married time. The children were always thrilled when she stayed. I think she reads stories better than we do!

She's not going far (just over to Windsor) but it won't be the same. She will be greatly missed.

I hope the new neighbours are nice.

2 comments:

Sue said...

Our neighbors have a "for sale" sign in the yard. They would like to move to Watertown, SD where there daughter lives. They checked rental property there and may change their minds. I hope so.
They are good neighbors.
Sue

LaDawn said...

Good neighbours are desirable. Great neighbours are a dream. She was a neighbour by chance and a friend by choice!