Our next door neighbor died today. Having been here for just over two months, we didn't know her well, but we've talked. She had just shared recently about being a few weeks pregnant (we weren't even sure she was still of child-bearing age). She also talked about having pneumonia and water on her lungs. So, it wasn't a big surprise in some ways. She had just returned from an appointment yesterday with a walker. Still, death is always a shock, and it is always unnatural.
Early this afternoon the medical truck from the fire station pulled in front of our house. A few minutes later, the police arrived. We heard her nephew talking on the phone about how he came home and found her not breathing.
Within a half hour about 20-30 people were gathered outside of the house, weeping and supporting one another. That's what loving neighbors is. We're slowly getting to know the neighbors we have (there are five open houses around us--one just went on the market). Some neighbors, of course, are easier to know than others. But no matter what our neighbors are like, we're still called to love them. Maybe the difficult ones even more so. And we need to do it while we have the opportunities.
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