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July,
1998
Our neighbor, Marge died over
Christmas. She had lung cancer and went fast. Her husband
died about twenty-five years ago. He worked for the phone
company and "drank a lot" according to Sparky.
Marge's
son, who was still living at home when we moved onto this
street, spent most of his time at the "Main Place."
One day he drove to the Veteran's Bridge and jumped off. He
left his car right on the bridge. Marge put his record player
out on the street. It had a John Lennon 45 on the turntable,
with the Yoko Ono side up, so I grabbed it.
The
sidewalk plow slammed into the steps out front this winter
and they still haven't been fixed. We saw the real estate
guy out front and he said the house had all Marge's things
still in place. "It looked like she just got up and went
to the store.
April,
1999
A mailman bought Marge's house and he spent a week cleaning
the place up to rent it out. It's sad to watch a family home
become rental property but that's a whole other story. And
when you look at the big picture, we are allrenters. We are
just passing through these houses that last much longer than
we will.
 The
mailman fixed the steps and a Bosnian family moved in. They
have other family and friends in the neighborhood and they
have really brightened up the place. They really know how
to put fabrics together. I'm certain at least half their wardrobe
is handmade. The long skirts surely are. The men sit out back
around a table drinking Budweiser long necks and playing cards
to what sounds like Rai music. We brought them some tomatoes
from our garden and found ourselves grunting and pointing
to communicate. They offered us a Marlboro and it was an awkward
moment turning that nice gesture down.
March,
2000
Well, the Bosnians have moved out because they couldn't afford
the $700 a month rent and the landlord was over the other
day putting a metal handrail on these steps which no one ever
uses. He plans to rent it to a family on welfare and one of
the rules says you've got to have a handrail.
March,
2003
The new neighbors had a string of parties when they first
moved in. They would put the speakers out in the back yard
and crank WDKX. A few people called the cops. It's hard to
tell who actually lives there but they have settled down.
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