Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

FOF women live here.

Jeanette, who works in medical billing, owns the house a few doors down, where her daughter, son-in-law and their 5-year-old granddaughter also live. Jeanette picks up her granddaughter from school to help out her daughter.  It makes me think what it would be like if my daughter and her 3 ½-year-old son, Primo, lived with me. But she’s not the least bit  interested in moving from Manhattan!

Retired FOF Sally, who worked for the social security administration in New York, lives across the street. I struck up a conversation with her when I noticed her sitting on her front stoop knitting. I’m an avid knitter, too, so I mentioned that it would be fun to get together. She’s also quite active in charitable organizations, she told me.

I met FOF neighbor Bette yesterday morning when we were walking our dogs. She’s a speech pathologist from Oklahoma, and moved to the house about four years ago, where she lives with her 45-year-old divorced son and two grandchildren. Bette came to help him out after his divorce, and wound up staying. We’re planning to have dinner next week, when I also will interview her for an article about the pros and cons of living with your grown son. “I had to learn my boundaries,” she told me. “It was hard, but it was necessary.”

reggieI also met Reggie, who lives around the corner on Greene Street, and works for Verizon. They’re installing FIOS in the neighborhood, and Reggie knocked on my door a couple of weeks ago to ask if he could bring the cable through the lower level of my house, which would make his job easier. ‘Of course,” I answered. Reggie told me he’s been renovating his house, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

When I was out walking Rigby this morning, I heard my name while I was admiring an old cast iron fence that had been newly painted a shiny black.

There sat Reggie, high up in his big Verizon truck. Turns out the gate is his! He told me he’d probably need to use my house again to transport their cable. “The door is open!” I said.

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0 Responses to “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

  1. Jai Bee Ess says:

    Loved your article. I feel like I have moved to Brooklyn along with you. Starting over at anytime is a big deal, but it looks like you are doing great! Good luck. I think you are going to be very happy there!

    REPLY
    • geribrin says:

      Hi Jai Bee,

      Your comment made me happy this morning. Thank you so much. I love it here.

      Fondly,
      Geri

      REPLY
    • geribrin says:

      Hi Jai Bee,

      Your comment made me happy. Thank you so much. I love it here.

      Fondly,
      Geri

      REPLY

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