Daily Bread: Remembering a Friend

This week I was out for a walk with my daughter's and I ran into a neighbor whom I barely know. She said she had just been to my house to tell me when Carol's funeral was. I looked at her blankly and told her I didn't know what she was talking about.

And that's when she told me the sad news. Our mutual friend and neighbor, Carol, has passed away suddenly and unexpectedly the week before.

Carol and her dog, R2, had such a constant presence in our neighborhood. She would take R2 for a 1 mile walk, three times a day, so it was common to look out my front window and see them walking by, or pass them on a run or while I was driving in and out of the neighborhood. If I was in the front yard, she would always stop and chat.

In the past couple years, the girls and I have created little fairy garden scenes in our front garden. Often we paint a bunch of rocks and leave them out for neighbors to take and enjoy. Many times I would open my front door to see a little pile of rocks that Carol had gathered on her walks and left for us to paint. Sometimes I would even find little surprises in the garden - small animal figurines or tea sets. She would find them at garage sales and buy them for our garden.

She lived alone and so with her passing we've also lost R2, who has gone to live with her daughter. It's a great loss for our neighborhood, and it hit me much harder than I would have imagined. To honor her memory, I created a new garden in the front - Carol's garden - with the hope that neighbors who pass will pick up a rock to remember our sweet neighbor and friend. Gardening is such great therapy, but I couldn't help but wish that Carol would walk by and chat.