Two Amazing Women
Tags: Prompt, Short Story, Energy, Loss, Journal

Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash

Two Amazing Women

I know that I already did this prompt but bear with me while I clear these thoughts. In the past week I have lost two people from my life that I have known my entire life.

On Friday, my mom called me to tell me that our neighbor Kay had died. In June 1956 three families moved into the first three houses finished on my street. It was a brand new housing area in the suburbs. Our family was in the middle with Kay on one side and another family on the other. Our three families are the only original owners on the street. Our house is in my stepmom’s name. The other in the son’s name of the original owner and Kay’s house. Soon it will be in someone else’s name. Soon it won’t be the three families. Soon it will be different.

Kay had Alzheimer’s disease. The last few years when I went to visit mom Kay did not know who I was. If I saw her I would say hello and sometimes she would respond but usually just look and go back into her house. I want to share the story of how I met Kay for the first time. This story was relayed to me because I was not even three years old when it happened. I think this story is in my mind right now because Kay used to delight in telling me it. The older I got and the more the Kay I knew slipped away the more often she would tell it.

My street was a mess. There were no lawns. The three houses had the start of lawns but just seeded topsoil. The rest of the yards were just housing construction sites. I was out playing in the mud and I lost my boot in the mud. I don’t know why I couldn’t find it. Well maybe the fact that I was a month away from being three had something to do with my problem solving skills.

I was however smart enough to know one thing. I could not go home and tell my mom that I had lost my boot. Mom would have killed me. So I show up at Kay’s door. I rang the doorbell and told her that I lost my boot. Mind you I had tracked mud all over her porch and I am covered in mud. Kay asked me why I hadn’t gone and told my mom. I explained how if I showed up without my boot my mom would kill me.

Kay always had an immaculate home. Her yard was always beautifully taken care of. Her kids were never allowed to make a mess in the living room. They needed to have permission to be in the living room for that matter. They would never have their shoes on when they did. Kay vacuumed the living room twice a day. After the kids left for school and then before her husband came home from work.

Kay took my hand and walked through the mud until she had found my boot. She put it on my muddy foot. She walked me back to my house and told my mom what had happened. I will always be grateful. Thank you for saving my life Kay.

Aunt Alice was 101. She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2019 while I was in Romania. Aunt Alice lived in a nursing home for that last few years. She had been in assisted living until she fell a few years ago. There was a post by my cousin this morning on Facebook. Aunt Alice went into distress and was rushed to the hospital yesterday morning. She responded very well to treatment and was in good spirits and talking to people when they released her back to the nursing home.

The nursing staff made sure she got something to eat on her return and kept around her. At one point Aunt Alice told the nurse she felt cold and asked for an extra blanket. The nurse was gone for less than two minutes. Aunt Alice was gone before she returned with the blanket.

Aunt Alice was an amazing woman. She raised three daughter by herself. Her husband fought in World War II. He survived the war. He didn’t survive the drunk driver that hit him when his daughters were all very young. He died the year I met Kay. Alice raised three daughters on the money that the government gave her after my uncle died. The family and neighbors “gave” her a house on the street where my family lived in order to raise them. People did that in the early 1950’s well at least my family and that neighborhood did. Aunt Alice was a strong woman. She once chased a man with a broom that wouldn’t leave her alone. Aunt Alice never remarried. She had the love of her life and nobody could take his place. She raised three awesome daughters and left behind them, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Aunt Alice I will miss you. I love you.

We should not have to lose two people so closely together that have been in your life for as long as you can remember.