In Memory

Of My Neighbor

Hello ♡,

We have just moved, hence the late newsletter this week. There is an emptiness as we leave our old space and old house. And I am thinking about how a space is just a space without the people and connections that make it hum with life and memories. It’s the people, not the building, that make the impact we make on one another.

(Homework being done on the floor of our old empty house)

So many of you contacted me about my neighbor that I wrote about in last week’s newsletter. You were moved by him, as was I.

I wanted to make space to honor him and let you all know he passed away.

I found out the day we left our old house on Friday. I had called to say goodbye with all the kids in person, and he didn’t answer. He always answered on the first or second ring.

And I have been grieving him.

And I also have been thinking about him, and thinking about the mark we make on people. He lived a whole life long before I met him. He lived a whole life outside of our connection. And yet still, the years we spent living across the street from each other, although small in comparison, have made such an impact on me.

We make such impact on each other don’t we?

So many of us know the hurt of that truth, unfortunately. But today I am thinking about the other side of that, how in each moment, however mundane and daily, we are carving out a connection with one another, and there is magic in the mundane.

I want to honor my neighbor with this space and with this intention: to remember the impact we have on one another in the small, everyday moments of life.

I was lucky to know him, to have my house watched over so lovingly by him (with lots of suggestions), and I learned a lot from him - from his kindness, his humor, and his ability to bend like the willow tree with all the change.

---

Things to share…

New Still Becoming Episode I made before my neighbor passed away. A meditative Story Episode: Lessons From My Neighbor.

It has been awhile since we have had a meditative story. The Meditative Story episodes on the Still Becoming podcast are short essays, put to music meditative music, and a chance to pause and reflect on your own journey through story. It is like a therapeutic adult story time.

In this episode we are talking about my recent move, and lessons I have learned from my dear neighbor across the street. We are reflecting on bending with change. My neighbor has since passed away, I found out the day we moved. We will miss him very much.