One of my neighbors is moving.

I live on an 8-house cul-de-sac - 4 homes on each side. We built our house almost 17 years ago, and it was the last house built on the street. All the homes on our street are about 18 years old.

Of the four houses on the other side of the street, one has its original owner. Given that their youngest daughter has two more years of high school, I don't think they're moving for at least that long.

On our side of the street, ALL FOUR original owners still live in their houses. Not only have we all had the same neighbors for 16+ years, no one but us has ever lived in our homes.

You know the really weird part? Through it all, with the kids and teenagers and college students that have grown up on the street, guess who the loudest person on the block is (and always has been)?



Here are my neighbors. I like them all:

ACROSS THE STREET
1. Steve and Sonja. Their home has been in Architectural Digest, although they didn't build it. They bought it about 10 years ago. They have three great kids. Steve had kidney cancer last year but thankfully beat the odds and is doing great. The original owners of the home, Ken and Goldie, are now retired in Colorado. They were both psychiatrists. Boy, were THEY fun!

2. Mike and Denny. The only original owners from that side of the street. He's a lawyer. They have 2 kids that they send to private school about 30 miles away. What a commitment that takes. The down side, though, is their kids don't have friends in the neighborhood - their friends are all from across town. Good kids, though. I think.

3. Masoud and Firouzi. They are from Iran. Masoud is a research physician and his wife is a doctor. Two sons, plus there are always relatives living with them. That is their custom. Super nice people. We have somewhat of an international neighborhood. My son's best friends are named Rajeev, Rishi and Niraj.

4. Gerald and Liz. More doctors. Gerald is an internist; Liz is a stay-at-home psychologist. She raises their two sons, the oldest of whom was born the same day as my daughter - i.e., one day after Prince's birthday. How cool would it have been to have TWO kids on the same street with Prince's birthday? Although, I am pretty certain Gerald and Liz have no idea who Prince is.

OUR SIDE OF THE STREET
1. Yushi and Raiza. They are Chinese; in fact, they're in China right now. I bet they went to the Olympics. Yushi has three grown children from his first marriage. One son was a prodigy on drums. I originally dreaded him having bands over for practice, but he was into jazz and he always had AWESOME musicians come over. Raiza is Yushi's second wife, and mother of their young son, Patrick. Patrick is a certified genius. He is 10 years old and is taking high school classes. He started junior high when he was 7. I'm sure he is capable of a college course or two. You will read about him some day, maybe one day soon. I could tell you stories about Patrick that would make your jaw drop. When he's featured on "60 Minutes", I'll be sure to let y'all know.

2. Us.

3. Brian, son of Glen and Sara. Glen and Sara are both educators. Sara has been Dean of the Business School for three major universities. Glen is a consultant to university presidents. Right now, they are finishing up a stint out of state, so they've been letting their youngest son live in their house. Imagine this - you are a mid-20's young man and you get to live in a 5,000 square foot home rent-free. AND YOU NEVER HAVE A PARTY. Seriously. What a great kid! Glen and Sara are going to retire and come back in three years.

4. Peggy. Her husband, Rick, died seven or eight years ago. They always kept to themselves, so we never got that close with them. After Rick died, Peggy stayed in a lot. They have two two daughters. Rick and Peggy did a lot of traveling, and the daughters had the home to themselves a lot. They had friends over - usually boys, I think - but in all that time, I NEVER heard any noise from the home. No loud music, nothing. What are the odds? Peggy is the one moving, although it's to a patio home about two blocks away.

I did not set out to play Garrison Keillor in this thread.

i am sorry love that ur freind have to move love peace on her kids love to but as for u i see u whare prince symbol on ur hread love thats on u love in jesus name he is knot a symbol love and what is color u know u say white man but u whare a black mans but he mixed thoe but still got black in him so thair is no color with prince but his symbol tells ahlot about u love so i love jesus christ no smybol love peace and love to u and ur nabors cause what color are they love but it realy shloudent mater thoe right love peace and love

truleyloved said:

She didn't have to move; the home was just too big for one person so she decided to move to a smaller house.

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

Any room for some new neighbours? We are considering a move.

That's awesome Rodeo, that there's so much stability in your neighborhood. Texas rules!