Wayne's World

http://www.northjersey.com/wayne/


Further evidence that the town is snake bitten. My home town looks like a wonderful place at first glance, but there have been several episodes in the last year that scratch the veeneer. This is one of them. I would like to think that I would have noticed and inquired. Heck, I even check up on the dogs on my dailly dog walk if I don't see them for awhile. I am by no means a nosy neighbor so I can not be called the neighborhood busybody.

I had an elderly neighbor, who would leave a light on every morning. We had an arrangement, when the special light was on at 7 AM, I knew everything was OK. If the light was off, I knew I had to call or walk over and knock on the door. If there was no answer , I knew to use my key. It worked out for 15 years. I don't even remember how it started, I know it was after her husband died and her sight started to fail. There were 5 times when I had to intervene with the key. Three times it was a misunderstanding and not hearing her phone ring. It was simple, but effective. It allowed us to live independently with the knowledge that help was a 60 Watt light bulb away. No one ever knew of our arrangement except the two of us, I would of course stop in frequently, but just really to say hello, not to interfere with her fearse independence. I always informed her of up coming vacations and the like. She continued to live independently up until a few months before her death at 95, the last time I used the key was when she had fallen, which produced the trip out of home.Even after my neighbors death , as I went out to get the paper. I would find myself looking back over my shoulder , through the bay window to see if the table lamp with the milk glass shade was lit. For months the unlit lamp would remind me of the death and the loss of a friend and my role in my friends life. But because of the light, the neighbor never had to fear being alone.