My elderly neighbor died Saturday night.

 I didn't know him or his wife well at all, even though they've been my next door neighbors ever since we moved into this house three  years ago.  They are quiet people, but they always waved at me as I left taking my son to school.  They were always up and out piddling in their yard early every morning.

 I always smiled when I saw one or both of them.  Usually both were out there together, weeding the flower garden or edging the lawn.  I sometimes saw him take her elbow to help her walk up the couple of stairs to their back door...it was obvious, even to me who didn't know them well that they still loved each other after many, many years together.

Their yard is immaculate, especially compared to ours so full of basketballs and swingsets and trampoline and pool.  Sometimes I saw them sitting on the porch swing, just watching all the neighborhood kids screaming and running in our yard.  I didn't know if they had children, and sometimes I worried that the crowd over here was just a little too rowdy, a little too loud, and that they might be disturbing the people that live around us.

 She always brings us a plate of homemade goodies a few days before Christmas, things like sausage balls, and cheese straws - the things that we all love but so seldom bother to make for ourselves.  Her smile is beautiful and her blue eyes are so bright. 

Last night I cooked a few things, and this morning I walked through the sunshine and the dew on the grass to take my sympathy food to her.  She smiled at me as she opened the door, flour on her hands.  I'd come while she was in the middle of making biscuits for breakfast.

 Her daughters came in, and I was introduced.  I was so glad that she wasn't alone. I sat for a bit, drank a cup of coffee with this neighbor I've never really known, and as I left, I wrote down both of my telephone numbers, told her to please call if she needed anything - I'm right next door, after all.

 As she put the piece of paper away, I noticed her  hands shaking, and her smile falter, and she broke my heart with her dignity and her strength.

On the way home I cried for this man that I didn't know.  Now I'll never get the chance, and the loss is completely mine.