Today I had the pleasure of visiting with my next door neighbor, who came to visit bearing a get well gift, a lilac Yankee Candle. She said she knew I liked lilacs and had been thinking of me after my recent hip surgery. As we visited, she told me she is putting her house on the market in the spring and has already spoken to a realtor.
I was saddened to learn she is leaving, as she is a great neighbor and we’ve spent hours talking over the fence from our backyards. My thoughts then went to the lilac bushes that grow along the fence between our houses, making the lilac candle something I’ll always remember her for. Lilacs are dear to my heart as my mom had them at my childhood home, and every Spring she would bring in cuttings placed in a vase of water. Like the fresh cut watermelon my dad ALWAYS bought in the summer, the smell of lilacs will forever bring to mind growing up in Livonia.
Over the years I’ve lived in this house, when the lilacs would bloom and I’d see my neighbor outside, I’d offer her all the cuttings she wanted, if she wanted to bring some inside, like I do. She responded, “You won’t holler at me?” LOL Holler? I hadn’t heard that term used in ages. Also, the burning bush my cardinals hang out in is next to the lilac along our fence line. I smiled at the gift bag the candle came in, adorned with cardinals.
I don’t know if she realized how much this gift meant to me. I probably won’t ever burn the candle, but keep it as a memory of my sweet neighbor lady.