Across the Street – One House Down
About 13 years ago, my builder (Lloyd) stopped
by to chat and talk about a couple he was considering selling a spec house to.
He was telling me that the couple was retired, the husband had worked at US Air and the wife was a Registered Nurse. And Lloyd mentioned that the husband was black and the wife was white. Anyway, we kept chatting for a while, and then Lloyd started laughing, and said (as best as I can remember) “Bill, I knew you wouldn’t care or even notice they were mixed race.” And, I honestly replied, “Who would care?” Well, as Lloyd said – there were some neighbors who would, and I could probably guess who they were. Yeah – I had my suspects – but I didn’t let Lloyd tell me who. Lloyd was doing a casual canvas of the neighborhood to see how folks would react.
He was telling me that the couple was retired, the husband had worked at US Air and the wife was a Registered Nurse. And Lloyd mentioned that the husband was black and the wife was white. Anyway, we kept chatting for a while, and then Lloyd started laughing, and said (as best as I can remember) “Bill, I knew you wouldn’t care or even notice they were mixed race.” And, I honestly replied, “Who would care?” Well, as Lloyd said – there were some neighbors who would, and I could probably guess who they were. Yeah – I had my suspects – but I didn’t let Lloyd tell me who. Lloyd was doing a casual canvas of the neighborhood to see how folks would react.
Lynda and
Freeman moved into the neighborhood.
Anyway – while we say hello in passing,
I am not what you would call friends with Lynda and Freeman. But I have a pretty
good passing acquaintance with Freeman.
He was huge when they moved in. Like,
close to 400 lbs.
He started riding a bicycle for
exercise. You’d see him riding everywhere and we’d always wave and shout hello
or stop and chat. He even rode that bike on US 1 Freeway! It’s a wonder he didn’t
get hit. Eventually Freeman got down to about 200 lbs – which is about right
for him. He’s a good 6 ft. 6 in. If not even taller. Looks like a former NFL
defensive lineman.
Lynda was an RN for over 45 years and
then did volunteer work.
A couple years back, during one of our
passing chats, Freeman told me Lynda had developed thyroid cancer. But,
eventually she responded to treatment and she seemed to be OK. Whenever we
spoke, Freeman was upbeat and positive.
Unfortunately, the cancer came back and
spread pretty quickly.
Apparently Lynda decided that she didn’t
want to go through a lingering cancer death, and she didn’t want her family to
have to go through that either. So, this week, Lynda decided to take matters
into her own hand.
Being an RN, Lynda had the medical and pharmacological
knowledge to do what she had decided to do.
Life can put folks into impossible
situations. Until we’ve been there - we just don’t know what we would or would
not do.
I'm having a hard time writing this - so I'm gonna stop now.
2 comments:
Lynda showed such courage in controlling how she wanted her life to be. She is the sort of person that I would want to "rub off" on me in her resolve and I'll say it, clear thinking. It's just me, but she had an enviable understanding of life's satisfactions and its limitations. Poor Freeman. He will suffer so. Thank you for describing this so skillfully. I actually thought you were going to say that Freeman had lost his life, so this was a bit of a sucker-punch. Life. Ironic.
mike of reston
I knew neither Lynda or Freeman. But I admire Lynda's courage and hope that if I am in similar circumstance I will have both the courage and the option to forego a lingering painful death.
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