Crazy Cat Lady

I came home from San Diego today, and when I walked in the door my mom told me that my neighbor died. We knew he'd been sick and in and out of the hospital, so we had kind of expected it. So when she told me, it was like God, that sucks, but that was it. Until just a little bit ago. It's funny how you hear news about something and it doesn't sink in right away. This is a man who I have lived next to for 25 years. A man who made me laugh at his neighborly antics and smile at his sweetness. He loved my nephews. When they'd run screaming towards him in his garage, we'd yell at them not to bug him. But he loved the attention. Him and his wife were at the age where any attention was welcome. Their kids were grown and busy - visited when they could. But for the most part it was just the two of em. A few years ago there was this stray dog that was hanging around the neighborhood during the wintertime. I was feeding her behind my dad's back, but he soon figured it out when the dog wouldn't leave our front porch. So before sending this poor dog to the pound, I talked Art into taking her in. He named her, "Pal." Art wasn't too happy with me when Pal popped out 6 puppies a few weeks later. Who knew? But he built her and her babies a nice big doghouse and took care of them until they could all find good homes. He was such a sweet old man and it really sucks that I'm never gonna see him sitting out in the garage enjoying the afternoon, or that he's never gonna invite me over for a game of ping pong again. Damn.