Loss of Good Neighbor

A very nice man died this week and it gives a person a different perspective on life. Our neighbor Gale D. Stone, of 1013 Dover Street, Iowa City, died suddenly at him home on Monday, May 14, 2007. He was just 62 years old and had retired in March of this year after having served in the Navy for twenty years as a cryptologist and twenty-two years as a supervisor at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Iowa City.
I never knew that about him until after he died, because he was one of those people we know as acquaintances, but not in depth. I have lived next door to him and his wife Alice, for a few years, and have spoken to them briefly, but it is usually just a smile, a wave, a quick hello and then I am off, rushing, usually to work, but it could be anywhere.
In our times we do not usually take the time to know our neighbors like people did when I was growing up. Our lives get so cluttered with all sorts of minor things and we are so busy we can barely breath, let alone take the time to sit on the porch with the neighbors or anyone for that matter. Perhaps your lives are drastically different and you do know the neighbors well and they are like family too you. If that is the case I congratulate you and hope that after this week I can get to know the other neighbors better.
This nice man died just weeks after another nice neighbor down the street lost his wife; again just a wave and a hello kind of acquaintance, but the loss left this world a little darker. I knew him mostly through walking my friends dog as he was out walking his two dogs, but to see these people and the smile and wave was a nice way to start or end a long day.
So if your life sounds like mine and you are always rushing around and don’t know your neighbors, maybe grab a treat, stop by a neighbors place, knock on the door and say hello. Perhaps you’ll get to know them a little better than just a smile, a wave, and a hello.
The world is a little darker for the loss of these nice people, may they rest in peace.
I hope to get to know my other neighbors better.