The Old Lady On The Porch
My friends mom had overheard us whispering about some "strange" person in the neighborhood. Seems every neighborhood has one..the eccentric little old lady with a gazillion cats..or the cranky old man down the street. She sat us down and told us this story of what happened to her as a child and the story her mother had told her and her friends. Pearl told me that as a child she and her friends would often make teasing remarks to an old drunk lady whom sat on her porch every day. She was a fixture in the neighborhood..all the kids knew of her, sitting day after day..in unkept hair, dirty clothing and sipping on her alcohol from her brown paper bag. The house was in poor shape and stood out in the neat neighborhood...dilapitated and in dire need of repairs and a coat of paint. Pearl's mom caught the kids teasing the old lady one day and brought them in the house. Sitting the kids down she said this lady had once been just like the moms in the neighborhood. She was happily married, a mom and expecting another child. She was known for her beautiful garden and her delicious pastries which she often shared with the neighbors. Her husband was sent to fight in the war. (World War 11) and like all brides of that era and proceeding ones she waited anxiously for his return. One day bathing her 2 year old she heard someone knocking on the door. Against her better judgement she went to answer the door as there stood a soldier in uniform. The soldier informed her that her husband had been killed in action. The shock caused her to faint and when she came to she remembered the child in the tub. The result was tragic, the little boy had drowned. The loss was so incredible she had a miscarriage as a result of being hit with so many losses. She never fully recovered of the tragedy of that day. She and her friends had misjudged this poor lady and had felt shame. Never again did her friends tease this women but felt compassion. I dunno why but I always think of "The Old Lady On The Porch Story". It's not your usual Christmas happy story but makes you feel grateful for the love of family and friends. Marianne and the boys |
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 Ooh that bought tears to my eyes, certainly a moral to that sad story. |
| What a heart warming story and reminder that one must never judge someone unless they have walked in their shoes.
Reminds me of a similar elderly woman on the street where I grew up. Old Ms Bremer. One only saw her in the mornings when she would walk to church wearing her heavy winter coat - didn't matter whether it was winter or the hottest day in mid July. Never talked to anyone, but was known by us boys as the neighborhood crab because if a ball was hit accidentally in her yard, she would rush outside and confiscate it. On day while we were playing baseball in the alley behind her yard with my prized hard rubber baseball, the inevitably happened and I lost the ball to Ms Bremer's collection. Years passed. I graduated from college. There was a knock at the front door. Ms Bremer had a package for me as a graduation present. You guessed it -- my hard rubber baseball!  |
| Wow.... |
| George!!! I loved your story!! I can only imagine Old Mrs Bremer with her collection of balls sitting in her house..hoping one day to return them when they young men became of age. LOL (Or maybe just yours).
Marianne |
| There was an older lady in my neighborhood when we were kids. She was known to be kinda strange. She used to hide behind her car and "spy" on us kids as we played. She often acted very odd when she talked to neighbors. She was mean and rude to one of my best friends (who, I must say, sometimes provoked it). My parents had always taught us to be polite to adults and so I never actually was the target of Mrs. K but I was always kind of afraid of her because she was so different. However, whenever we saw her, we always said hello. Anyway, when I graduated from highschool, she gave me a very pretty necklace and a piece of china that had been her mothers. I still have the china bowl. As it turned out, Mrs. K had a brain tumor which she had had for a long time. After surgery, she returned to her former personality which was kind and thoughtful. Goes to show you, sometimes things are not what you think! |
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