Yesterday I got a text from my neighbor Kelcey:
we bought a house in Westport and we are moving, she said.
She and her family are Unusual People for this building.
They are Christian with a capital C. And from America:
Little Rock, Arkansas, and Houston, Texas.
They have three beautiful blond sons who are young
and smart and neat and write stories and even
perform them in the hall. The rest of us in this building
particularly those who have been here 40 years each
(40 years!!) are motley, disheveled, frayed around the edges.
Colorful is our best adjective. One small neighbor example:
about Miriam who died this year. She and her husband, textile designers,
were from Montevideo. They went to Uruguay every summer.
Her hair was enormous and beautiful and bright white.
Miriam’s husband died a while ago. No relatives
no other people in their lives except for those of us
in this building who met in the elevator or the lobby.
She became a total gymaholic after her husband died.
No one could have predicted Miriam and her late life
gym obsession. The Hixes often delivered to Miriam
and the rest of us too
handmade holiday cards and candy.
Last night eight of us met on the 5th floor
even though we can now go inside
we met in the hallway to toast the Hixes and how much they
brought into this building when they came here 11 years ago
how much happiness and light they brought with their kindness
and their sons and we, those disheveled and those not,
all drank to one another, and to our building, and to
unexpected friendship of neighbors.
So wonderful. Miss living in a NYC apt after this...
The unexpected sweetness of neighbors, hallway parties, fair haired children bringing light. There is a poignancy in this poem that touched me. Still seeking connections after too long...