That sick sinking feeling…

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It is a tough world. One of my next-door neighbors is losing his house. He does not know that I know and I don’t believe he has yet told his ailing wife.

We have been neighbors for about 11-years now, never close friends, just good neighbors. I remember when he first bought the house; he and his 6-year-old daughter were just beaming. He was newly retired back then, looking for a home in the suburban area of our city to raise his only child. I met his wife shortly thereafter. Now their daughter is gone, their youth is gone, their good health is gone, and apparently, all of their money is gone. Since I often loaned or gave them money during the lean times before the wife’s accident, I had long suspected they lived on the edge of solvency and likely would someday lose the house. The love of home ownership went out of him years ago; the house and yard are in very bad shape; some of the neighborhood snobs will be happy to see them go. Personally, I hate to see anyone lose a home. His wife will be devastated when she hears the news; I can expect her teary-eyed knock on my door any day now. I feel bad for her and bad for her husband. My guess is that the soaring property taxes, sending money to their wayward daughter, and paying the out-of-pocket portion of the wife’s medical bills must have been too dear of a burden for the husband’s pension to bear.

There have been some folks taking photos of the houses on our cul de sac, primarily the afore-mentioned neighbor’s house. Being the type of person who dislikes suspicious behavior, I decided to investigate. After doing some online searching, I found that my neighbor’s house was foreclosed on in January so I surmised that these photo-taking vultures represent real estate firms working for the mortgage company. I kind of resent that my neighbor has been perfectly happy to have me mow and fertilize his lawn all the while knowing that he has a pending eviction, but on the other hand, I know that his plate of hardships is overflowing and that my help at least made his life a little easier. Anyway, since the house is now REO, it is up to the mortgage company and their realty company to provide maintenance from here on out. I will still find it in my heart to help my neighbors move out when the time comes and maybe give them a few bucks to see them down the road.

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