Dead Neighbor

[pen_grunt]

Our neighbor died rather unexpectedly at age 51.

Or not *so* unexpectedly after everything that happened--but the conditions were sudden. He lived a roughish life with alcohol and (in his youth) drugs.

He went to the hospital with stomach pain and had surgery for diverticulitis. Or a simple bowl obstruction. We've heard conflicting stories. During surgery, he had a stroke and a heart attack. He was in the hospital for several weeks and the common thought was that if that didn't immediately kill him he'd make it through.

But he didn't.

So now we have a wake and funeral to go to. It's a weird situation--normally I wouldn't go or feel obligated to go at this level of acquaintance, but since he was my next-door neighbor it's kinda...the thing we have to do. I can't be the jerkface who walks past the widow and her daughter in the yard every day and NOT have gone to the funeral.

And so: wake tonight. Funeral tomorrow. Ick.

He was a good neighbor though. He drank a lot, but we always said hello, he was very nice and well-intentioned, and he and D exchanged tools/mowers/chainsaws with a sort of frequency. He is also the neighbor who started taunting/threatening gang members in front of OUR house before drunkenly stumbling back to his own and leaving D out there for the rest of the afternoon. I probably won't mention that at the wake. Though that's another thing--some people totally want to laugh at the funeral of a loved one, others SO don't. It's hard to tell. For the record, if I'm unfortunate enough to have to sit through D's funeral (since he's older than me and men tend to die earlier--somewhat--anyway, it's kind of likely...but let's hope it's a LONG time from now) I hope people tell crazy-funny stories that make me laugh even if it does make me miss him.

Comments

[grenacia.livejournal.com]

At my grandpa's memorial service (sudden stroke) one of his buddies got up and made the following speech "It's so hard to think that Mitch is gone when just last week he slammed a car door on my hand" and showed us the bruise. It got a good laugh.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

That is a great anecdote to tell. :)

[newlifeinstpaul.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear this.

And for the record, I want people laughing at mine.
Well not cuz I'm GONE and all. But you know.

B's got a 99.9999999% chance of planting me in the ground, too.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I want people laughing at mine, too. Or, you know, they can just skip the funeral if they want to. I'm dead. I won't care. :D