This could be the biggest loss. No, not your favorite sports team’s loss over the weekend. This isn’t about a game at all – yet it does involve people.
In fact, some may even say this loss is devastating. It possibly ranks right up there with the loss of a loved one – a parent, a child, a sibling. In fact, it might be bigger. Why?
Well, once you are departed – well – you’re gone. Of course, not forgotten – but the conversation. Friendship. The relationships – all gone. What’s left – the memories.
Life continues in the face of these losses.
But, what about the loss of a neighbor? Yes, a neighbor.
The people that you see daily. When you take out the trash. When they leave for church on Sunday. When they ask to watch their home – or collect their mail – while on vacation.
Well, it happened recently in my Florence neighborhood.
Clyde and Carol Verhoff packed their bags and moved North – closer to – gulp – their family. After five years in Boone County – after five years of being friends to all in the neighborhood.
“Good neighbors,” says one of the Verhoff neighbors, Lynn Helms, “are a blessing. Good neighbors become great friends.”
That they did.
So good it was one last goodbye at yes – a neighbor’s home – that same evening to bid the couple a farewell. Not a goodbye – but a farewell.
Of course the move is somewhat local – but anything more than a ten-minute car ride is a haul. They’re gone, but thanks to Facetime, they’ll still be here – somewhat.
So, what makes neighbors even more special than losing a relative? Easy. First, you can’t pick and choose relatives. Yet, there are those times in the year you can’t wait to see them. But after passing the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, well, you wish the feast was over.
Relatives seem, to pop up – and pop in — at any time. And – ugh – refuse to leave. And what do you do when a long lost cousin calls – and cries – for some needed cash?
When was the last time your neighbor did that?
Neighbors are thoughtful. Caring. And even loving.
“Neighbors are always there for each other,” said neighbor Sue Creamer.
In fact, when was the last time a relative did a favor for you? Think about that for a while.
Neighbors are there 24/7. Relatives appear on holidays, weddings and could be surprise — and unwelcome —guests.
Of course you love your relatives. Why not, many share your same name.
But neighbors, well, some just can’t be replaced.
That’s what happened in Florence the other evening. Perhaps you have already experienced it. It is a tragic loss.
“A good neighbor makes you feel like home,” said the once and now former neighbor, Carol Verhoff.
It’s a tragic loss.
Andy Furman is a staff writer for the NKyTribune and loves his neighborhood and his neighbors. He strives to be a good neighbor himself.