I Try To Do Good Deeds Everyday
Helping My Neighbor... I try to do something extraordinary nice every day. Sometimes opportunities arise to do a little more and that is what happened recently.
My neighbor across the street lost her husband about 15 years ago. He died in bed from a heart attack. She struggled and I felt badly for her. She had 4 grown children who didn't seem to ever help her.
Her home went into foreclosure and she had given up. An attorney told her the only way to save her home was to file bankruptcy which she did.
Then she discovered the roof had leaked between floors and she had a mold issue. I felt that was a little too much to deal with.
This family never spoke to me. Ever. But one day I walked over and said to her "I know you must feel overwhelmed. Is there anything that I can do?"
Once I realized the magnitude of the problem, I offered to help catch her yard work up.
Oh boy. This was a major undertaking. The grass was up to mid thigh. She had bushes that had taken over the front yard, lots of rotten wood and mold and mildew growing on the house.
I had to cut the grass 3 times to get it back down to manageable level. I took out the bush in the front yard with my bare hands. I dug up over 200 brick that had been set into the ground for some dumb reason. I made her raised flower beds in the back with those bricks.
My brother pressure cleaned her house and concrete. He fixed 3 fences on the block with her damaged fencing.
We took down trees and vines that were overgrowing the whole yard only to discover the siding had rotted behind the plants.
I decided to paint the trim with the paint she said she had purchased. 2 whole quarts. Ok, that won't paint much. I finished the first level and had to climb to the second story.
Here I am, all 5' 3" of me, holding a 6 ft aluminum ladder in my right hand, climbing an extension ladder to the second floor. The hard part was coming down with the ladder. So here I was on the flat part of her roof with a ladder painting her peaks...the top peak was so blistered from the sun, there was NO paint left on it. The peak above the window was so rotted, I could snap it with my fingers like a cracker.
I got finished with the first can of paint, only to find out the second can is the wrong color...sigh.
I gave her some assignments-to get rid of the 3 used tires in the yard, to fixe the rotted wood on the eves, and buy more paint.
Not once did her grown kids come out to help. Not once. they said they were inspired by me, but I guess not enough to take action.
Do I regret helping her? No, I did so willingly. I am hoping it shames them into moving forward.
I am almost finished with the project. I have a 6 ft. aloe vera plant to take out. There are snakes in it because I had killed one. Maybe one more coat on the front and then my good deed is done.
My neighbor across the street lost her husband about 15 years ago. He died in bed from a heart attack. She struggled and I felt badly for her. She had 4 grown children who didn't seem to ever help her.
Her home went into foreclosure and she had given up. An attorney told her the only way to save her home was to file bankruptcy which she did.
Then she discovered the roof had leaked between floors and she had a mold issue. I felt that was a little too much to deal with.
This family never spoke to me. Ever. But one day I walked over and said to her "I know you must feel overwhelmed. Is there anything that I can do?"
Once I realized the magnitude of the problem, I offered to help catch her yard work up.
Oh boy. This was a major undertaking. The grass was up to mid thigh. She had bushes that had taken over the front yard, lots of rotten wood and mold and mildew growing on the house.
I had to cut the grass 3 times to get it back down to manageable level. I took out the bush in the front yard with my bare hands. I dug up over 200 brick that had been set into the ground for some dumb reason. I made her raised flower beds in the back with those bricks.
My brother pressure cleaned her house and concrete. He fixed 3 fences on the block with her damaged fencing.
We took down trees and vines that were overgrowing the whole yard only to discover the siding had rotted behind the plants.
I decided to paint the trim with the paint she said she had purchased. 2 whole quarts. Ok, that won't paint much. I finished the first level and had to climb to the second story.
Here I am, all 5' 3" of me, holding a 6 ft aluminum ladder in my right hand, climbing an extension ladder to the second floor. The hard part was coming down with the ladder. So here I was on the flat part of her roof with a ladder painting her peaks...the top peak was so blistered from the sun, there was NO paint left on it. The peak above the window was so rotted, I could snap it with my fingers like a cracker.
I got finished with the first can of paint, only to find out the second can is the wrong color...sigh.
I gave her some assignments-to get rid of the 3 used tires in the yard, to fixe the rotted wood on the eves, and buy more paint.
Not once did her grown kids come out to help. Not once. they said they were inspired by me, but I guess not enough to take action.
Do I regret helping her? No, I did so willingly. I am hoping it shames them into moving forward.
I am almost finished with the project. I have a 6 ft. aloe vera plant to take out. There are snakes in it because I had killed one. Maybe one more coat on the front and then my good deed is done.
61-69, F
