Hera, last winter in during one of our blizzards.
Well, we all know it is different to live in a huge condo "Luxury" high rise.
But this week beats it all. You might remember that we chose to live in a great commute area, so we would not have to drive to work and pollute the air. And you probably remember me moaning about how expensive it is to live in the decent commute area. We paid ungodly dollars for the privilege of living in our 400 unit building.
One thing about big impersonal buildings is that you seldom get to know the neighbors.
About 3 years ago, the Mont. Co. Coalition for Homelessness purchased the little tiny efficiency unit right next to my half million dollar condo. We had problems with the crazy person they housed there, with her fights in the hallways and screaming etc. She was evicted and someone else moved in.
I got to know Mike a little bit, introduced ourselves in the hallway and elevators as time went by. Mike lived there about 2 years. He told me he was from Texas, he always wore a cowboy type hat. He looked to be older than me, but a little scruffy. He seemed like a nice guy, very quiet and did not bring in a lot of weird street people as the other tenant had done.
A couple weeks ago I spoke to him and he told me he had been in the hospital, that he had "a bleeder" and they didn't know what was wrong. He said he had one more test to go back and take. I wished him well and we went on our way.
Then I started to worry - I noticed that someone had stuck a take out menu in his door. Days went by, and no one had opened or closed the door, menu still stuck there. I knocked on his door, just one time. I tried the handle, it was locked. No one answered. A few more days went by. I noticed the menu was gone, but I still didn't see him. Then a Realtor type key box appeared on the door.
Finally, yesterday, I stopped at the management office and ask if anyone knew what had happened to him. They told me he had died right there, been dead a couple of days before anyone found him. Apparently he did have a cousin that came by and ask about him, I think that is how they happened to go find him.
Wow. Ed and I contemplated that news. The good side is that he lived his last couple of years in a nice, safe, upbeat environment. How sad that our urban lifestyles discourage interactivity except in the work setting. Wow. Humbling and sad.
