The Old Lady in the Blue House

This is storytime...... On my drive home from work, I most days would avoid the freeway and just take surface streets home. This started years ago when I realized that I spent the same amount of time traveling either way, but with less stress. On Thomas Road, I would pass by a little blue house on the corner. More times than none, I would catch the light and have to sit there at the red light. At least 3 days out of the 5, there would be an elderly woman outside. She walked with a hunch. She pushed around her wheelchair in her tiny yard. Her beautiful white hair was usually messed up and falling into her face. She always wore sweat shorts, a tank top two sizes too big and sandals, no matter the weather. I was captivated by her. Many times I wanted to stop, park and go have a conversation with her. She looked like she had many stories residing within the confines of her mind. I do not know why I never did, maybe I just wanted this to remain a fascination and not a fact...make sense? The house is a little one, intricate wooden shutters with hand carved swirls. Fake snow still clinging to the windows from a Christmas past. In the carport, her gardening tools were stacked neatly on one wall. Her yard was beautiful. You could tell by just looking at her walk gingerly through the yard, that she cared for it all by herself. Her yard was a beautiful mix of various cacti, roses, two beautiful treea and rock walls in different designs painted the same color blue as the house. I would catch her trimming the tree, watering the plants and shuffling around with her potting soil and other garden gadgets on her wheelchair. I imagined many stories in my mind. Was she married? If she is, is her husband inside that tiny little house watching TV? Does she have grand children? The storyteller in me already has a story visualized in my mind of course. There were days when I would not see her and I would get a little lump in my throat, hoping that all was well for her. I found a great comfort in seeing her and I also looked forward to catching the red light, it made me smile. So, I changed jobs briefly and did not see the lady in the blue house for quite some time. Luckily, the job only lasted briefly and I was once again free to drive my "normal" route home. One day, something changed. Something was off. I noticed that her tools were no longer in the carport, on one occasion. On another occasion, I noticed that her wheelchair was gone. Thoughts raced through my mind.....I was sad. Then, I noticed that her lovely little yard was drying out and unkept. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I never did see her again, my mind raced with scenarios...none of which made me feel comforted. Next time that I drove by her house, there were strangers in her carport and a dumpster in the front yard. Well, my heart sank. Of course this could have been her family, but I still felt like they had violated her space. This week it just so happens that there has been a turn in the story. I pulled up to the red light and gasped. Her lovely trees had been ripped out of the ground and thrown in a dumpster! Her roses were gone! But the sight that hit me in the heart and brought a tear to my eye was this, they crushed her rock walls with the same mini Bobcat that had destroyed the rest of the yard. My heart hurt seeing the piles of crushed blue rocks covered in dirt and left in piles. Discarded like trash. Crumbled memories. I had held out hope that if that was her family, they would have kept the quaint little yard with the bench under the shade of the larger tree. But alas, I do believe that the beautiful little blue house will get a facelift for a more "modern" look to keep the neighborhood looking some sort of way. I know this is a sad story but it is one that I felt the need to share. It also reminds me that I was able to share peaceful moments thanks to the little old lady in the little blue house. Thank you dear stranger for bringing many smiles to my face, thank you for helping me have a creative story to tell today and thank you for allowing a glimpse into your world. I wish you peace and beauty wherever it is that you may be. Thank you for listening to my stories. Remember to always be thankful for the little things in this life that others so frequently ignore. I leave you with peace, love and light.