Come & Go

While we have lived in this house for 10+ years we have had many neighbors come and go.
Some we were happy to see go and some that touched our hearts so much we cried when they moved.
But NONE have touched our hearts as much as Cindy and her boyfriend Michael.
Cindy passed away in February to cancer (I wish I could kick cancers ass!!) and Michael moved back to Florida yesterday.
For the past couple of years every morning I have taken their newspaper up to their door, this morning it sits there taunting me. Every cell in my body is telling me to go get it and take it to the front porch. Just makes me cry! I miss Cindy so much.
Watching Mike drive away yesterday was so very sad. I can not believe it is affecting me so much but I really do miss my good friend Cindy. She was always there for me. To listen to me bitch or cry or just be silly she was always there. She never judged me for my crazy drama. She always just loved me. I miss her. I miss Mike.
When Cindy was diagnosed with Cancer and lost a lot of her ability to take care of herself Michael dropped everything and moved in with her to help. At first we all thought he was crazy or that he had some sort of hidden objective for moving in with her. None of us could imagine that he was so loving and dear that he (a man) would just drop everything to help her. I have never felt such a lump of guilt for thinking so low of him. He truly loved Cindy and he did all he could for her in her last year in a half. I miss him and I miss Cindy. Even after Cindy passed Michael kept a bottle of Vodka for me in the freezer and insisted ;) I come over and have cocktails with him. I found that I was able to talk with Michael just like I was able to talk to Cindy. Michael became a great friend. I miss him so much and he only moved yesterday.
Michael has passed down to me a couple special things of Cindy's to help keep her memory alive. He gave me the huge Gorilla that Cindy loved and even brought to a party or two at my house as her "date". He gave me her Ronald McDonald coffee mug that for some reason was always my cup there for Vodka. He also just passed down to me her Skeleton Halloween earrings for me to keep her Halloween tradition alive. And the very last night I was there he gave me a bottle of Vodka for the freezer and her Halloween witch hat. I feel very special to have such special things of hers but I honestly wish I still had her.
Cindy's house was my refuge, my safe haven, my place to escape, my sanity zone!!
On Mike's last night in the house I of course went over to hang out and we joked about what I was going to do now to stay sane. It is crazy to think of other people living in that house! CRAZY! I dont think I will like whoever moves in for the mere fact that they are not Cindy or Mike!! :-)