Estranged

When I moved in to my house 32 years ago, our next door neighbors became our good friends. At the time I was in my late twenties and they were in their late forty's. We considered them family and were very close for almost 11 years. When my son turned 13 he wanted a basketball hoop for his birthday. We were going to install it at the edge of our lawn and sink it into concrete for stability. Before we did that we asked the neighbors if it was okay with them, as the end of their lawn joins the beginning of ours. The husband said it would be great and he would be looking forward to playing with it. We hired a handyman and the hoop was installed. Later that night, the neighbor came to our door and said that his wife did not like how the hoop looked. We said that we gave them the consideration of asking if it was okay prior to the installation and now that it was cemented in, it was there to stay. The location of it would insure that no one would be running on their grass, only on my driveway. The neighbor said he wanted it removed and we said it was too late for that. Push came to shove literally and when my older son stepped in to separate the pushing, the neighbor punched him in his head. That was the end of the friendship. For 15 years I never looked their way. As I got older, the memories of that ugly day faded and when I saw the male neighbor, we began to nod hello. Then we began to exchange pleasantries. I never really saw his wife as she was an in and out of car person. Three weeks ago, I saw them at a restaurant and walked over to their booth to say hello. The man was very friendly. His wife turned her head away. I felt bad and said to myself that I was never going to try to speak to her again. She died suddenly yesterday. What a shame that she had a chance to mend fences, but choose to hold onto a grudge.