The Start Of Something Special

When we first moved into this house 4 1/2 years ago, things didn't start out so great with our one neighbour.  Our first introduction to her was when she yelled at us that our moving van was blocking her driveway.  Add that with the facts that we never, ever saw her outside and her lawn was the shits and that was all we needed to give her the nickname "Klopek" (courtesy of the greatest movie ever..."The Burbs"). All we ever saw of her was when she would back her car out of her driveway to go to work and then drive back in when she got home.  We would not have been the least bit surprised if we were to ever see her beating the snot out of her garbage with a shovel.

Given our unfortunate "distaste" for her, we never extended a neighbourly hand to help shovel her walks in the winter.  In fact, I think we may have on occasion shovelled the snow off our driveway into her backyard. Whoops.  Not sure how that happened.

Anyways, everything changed two years ago, with one short visit from our neighbour on the other side of us.  He came over to give us the heads up about a series of break-ins and attempted break-ins that had happened the night before.  After he left, I was outside having a smoke when "Klopek" pulled into her driveway.  She didn't drive right into her garage (she was unloading groceries), so I figured I would do the neighbourly thing and pass along the information.  We had a really great chat (her real name is Ann, she has one son who lives in B.C. and no grandchildren) and then went our separate ways.

A few months after Kat was born, we met outside, once again, as we were dragging our garbage bins to the curb (no, she did not have a shovel with her).  She asked whether I had had a baby, because she would sometimes see me in the living room in the evenings with a little bundle in my arms.  A few nights later, she popped over with a baby shower gift for Kat.  To say that Ann fell instantly in love with Kat is an understatement.

This spring/summer, we have been spending a lot more time outside than we did last year.  When we go for walks in the evening, we'll stop at Ann's house just to knock and say "Hi!".  Last week, Ann dropped off a batch of fresh strawberries and some strawberry jam for us (her yard in the city might be crap, but her boyfriend has a farm just outside the city).  In return, I took a pic of Kat eating said strawberries and wrote a thank you note from Kat to her "next door Grandma".

Tonight, Ann knocked on our back door.  She said that she was out shopping when all of a sudden, something just fell into her cart!  From behind her back, she pulled out an adorable stuffed kitten for Kat (who squealed in delight).  When I asked if Ann had received our thank you card, she said that she wasn't able to stop smiling.  She took the picture of Kat to work with her and everyone fell in love with her!

I am really, really glad that I smoke.  Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have been outside that night when Ann came home and we wouldn't have chatted.  If that wouldn't have happened, we'd probably still be throwing Shandi's poop over the fence not speaking to her.  I can't help but smile at what a special relationship the two of them are going to develop :)