As far as I knew Cindy was outside tending her gardens when I got a call from Nancy, who worked at our post office.
“Cindy is walking up Greenwoods Road,” she warned me on the phone.
Once upon a time, Cindy walking on her own somewhere in town would not cause concern. In fact, a local newspaper once printed a picture of Cindy walking her dog in the rain. People knew Cindy as the woman who walked everywhere, including by herself in the wilderness. That was before Cindy’s cognitive decline started.
Nancy called me because Cindy’s dementia had started by then. This being a small town, many people knew. I thanked Nancy and went to find Cindy.
When I got within sight of Cindy I held back to observe what would happen. She ended up doing a loop that brought her right back home. Perhaps she wandered off in the sense of suddenly abandoning her gardening, but apparently she was never lost. Even so, I appreciated the neighborhood watch that had formed.
Fast forward to last week and my car trouble. I still enjoy taking of Cindy but have resolved to expand my activities. I recently purchased a 2007 Honda Fit towards that end. Great gas mileage! Almost as good as my previous car, a 2000 Toyota Echo, which lasted over 300,000 miles. Connecticut road salt, not the engine, finally ended my Echo’s reign.
Unfortunately, I have had a few hiccups with the Fit since the purchase. The most recent problem was an alternator needing replacement at a garage in town. When walking to retrieve my car, I had not gone far when I stopped to chat with my neighbor Judy, also out walking. She kindly offered to drive me to the garage but I declined.
I had walked almost to the end of Laurel Way when my neighbor Hannah pulled her car up beside me. Judy had told her where I was going. Hannah offered to drop me off while on her way to the transfer station. This time I accepted. How could I turn up my nose at the neighborhood watch?
Some things stay the same even as they change. Over ten years ago the neighborhood watch looked out for Cindy. Now I was the beneficiary. Though I already walked more than halfway to the garage I needed to honor this manifestation of having friendly neighbors.
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I just sat in on a conference keynote speech about taking time to personalize our small towns by meeting each other, learning/teaching the history, and the like. You give me hope that many people are already doing this (and I see plenty of examples, we just need to keep passing the value to the youngsters).