Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Nothing Lasts Forever

I went for a walk this morning and my neighborhood was quiet. I came home from that walk to find the house across the street half gone. Nobody has lived there for years. When I first moved into this neighborhood 10 years ago, I met the lady who lived there. She introduced herself as Schultzy. She came over and said how nice it was to see someone young move into the neighborhood. Of course, that made her my favorite. She was 96 years old at the time. She walked her dog around the block every day. She went swimming at the high school a couple times a week. And she still tutored troubled high schoolers in her home in the afternoons.

She told me that she and her husband built the house in 1950. They owned all of the land in the neighborhood. He died shortly after and she sold all of the land except where her house sat. She used the money to go to Europe 8 times.

I wish I had gotten to know her better before she left. Doesn't she sound like someone you want to know more about?

So, her house is being torn down today. It makes me think about how temporary every thing in this world is. The stuff we work so hard to build will be a pile of rubble some day. In 60 years, will my house be rubble? Will anyone notice? Will someone say they wished they had gotten to know me better and reflect on the things I did in my life that are worth remembering?

Heavy,
Normal Girl

1 comment:

votemom said...

this is very sad.

homes being demolished and trees getting cut down make me very, very sad.