Tag Archives: neighbor

Mar14

My Special Flower

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My Special Flower

Hi! Our beloved downstairs neighbor, Tony, passed away last month and we miss him terribly. I always would tell Tony that Timber Top wasn’t the same without him and that sentiment is SO true. My days are not the same without our morning and afternoon chats when he would be outside smoking. I would give anything to smell those cigarettes again! I still say hi to him every time I pass his place, though, because I just know that he is there. I wish so badly that it was in a physical sense but his memory lives on every single day.

The day after his celebration of life, Tony’s daughter dropped by a beautiful orchid that served as centerpieces at the gathering. As touched as I was by this gesture, I have to admit that it made me nervous. When Johnny and I moved into our bigger apartment, we received several plants as housewarming gifts and I promptly killed them all lol. Clearly, I have no green thumbs! I wanted my orchid to thrive and I knew that there was only one thing left to do… Call my dad. 🙂

My dad is an excellent gardener and is incredibly knowledgeable on the care of flowers and plants. I called him to tell him about the orchid and requested that he adopt it. He agreed and I was so thankful as I knew my orchid would be in the best, most capable hands. It most certainly was because the day I dropped it off, my mom texted me that he went to the store to get special plant food for it. My dad has been tending to the orchid for the past month and I am so lucky that I get to see it almost every day. It is doing wonderfully:

Indeed, life is not the same without Tony because he changed our lives so much. We were lucky enough to have a neighbor who turned into our best friend. Someone who we could always count on for a chat, an afternoon movie, or a Friday Night Dinner Club meeting. We really did have so much fun together and I miss going to his place to make plans and mark it in both of our calendars with a heart. When I see my flower or say hi to him when I get home from work, it’s like he’s still here with me. He’s here with a smile, a kind word, and the lingering scent of cigarette smoke like always. ❤

Huge ups to my dad for caring for my orchid and giving it the best chance of survival lol because it definitely wouldn’t have had it with me!

What is your favorite flower? Are you good at taking care of plants? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb17

Hey, Neighbor

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Hey, Neighbor

Hi everyone. These past few weeks have been an incredibly difficult time for me and Johnny. As you all know, our downstairs neighbor, Tony, held a very special place in our hearts. He was our best friend, my pseudo grandpa, and beloved co-founder of Friday Night Dinner Club. It is with deep sadness to say that he passed away on February eleventh after a long fought battle with ongoing health issues. We are totally and completely heartbroken and it has been so hard to say goodbye to someone so dear to us. However, we are beyond lucky to have had three years of beautiful memories that will forever be cherished.

When Tony moved in, we were all on the same schedule. When Johnny left for work, he was outside smoking. When I left for work, he was outside smoking. When we returned from work, you guessed it – he was outside smoking! While our chats grew in length, our friendship blossomed into all kinds of adventures. This included Friday Night Dinner Club, Saturday Afternoon Movies, going to the shooting range, shooting pool, and the most incredible time doing a drive through of the Asian Lantern Festival. One of my favorite memories has got to be when we watched the total solar eclipse together. With our protective glasses on, we spent the afternoon watching a marvel of nature, gabbed away, and cheered and whooped during the big show. It was magical.

Our apartment complex feels so empty without our Tony. Every morning I still find myself looking for him when I leave for work and anticipate having our regular afternoon chat when I return home. It breaks my heart all over again every single time he isn’t there. Tony had a smile and a kind word for every person he encountered. He was gentle, had a silly sense of humor, and was up for whatever antics we would get into during our outings. Tony was a proud father and grandfather and I can’t recall a single conversation where he wasn’t “bragging” (As we called it!) about his family. It made me feel so good when he told me he always bragged about Johnny and me too! We miss our friend beyond measure but I am so thankful for all of the fun times we had to treasure. Whether it was a quick chitchat outside or an evening on the town, it was always special because he was so special to us. ❤

Tony always would sign off the texts we would send back and forth with “love always” and this phrase has been getting me through our collective heartache. It was love always whenever we were together and it radiated so purely. We love you always, Tony and our lives are permanently better because of you. Gone, but never ever forgotten.

May19

Be That Neighbor

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Be That Neighbor

Hello!! Johnny and I were absolutely addicted to the show Fear Thy Neighbor and quickly finished the entire series with daily viewings after work and marathons over the weekends. As you can imagine if you haven’t watched the show, it is all about the worst neighbors ever lol. Our running joke as we watched the series was “What are we going to do, get mad at Tony?!”. Tony is our downstairs neighbor and he is the absolute best so every time we watched Fear Thy Neighbor, it was an exercise in “can’t relate” for which we are so thankful!

Tony, Johnny, and I became fast friends when Tony moved in and we would chat away every time our paths crossed when he was out for a smoke. This turned into Dinner Club get togethers, watching movies, going to the shooting range, and just having fun. And, of course, we always come running every time Tony might need a quick favor around the apartment. I’m going to be perfectly honest, our neighbors in our old apartment were not the best. Some were insanely loud and another was feeding the raccoons outside of her apartment door lol. So, when Tony moved in not doing any of that and being someone we actually wanted to hang out with, it was nothing short of a gift.

The other day as we were eating a baked potato dinner and watching an episode of SVU, Johnny got a call from Tony. It was nothing urgent, just asking if he could change the battery in his smoke detector as he wasn’t comfortable going up on the ladder. In a heartbeat, Johnny put down his meal and ran downstairs. In the handful of minutes while Johnny completed the task at hand, I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky and proud I am. Lucky to have Tony and proud to be those neighbors. And not in the Fear Thy Neighbor way but in the best way possible!

Having a neighbor that we truly consider to be a best friend is something we have never experienced and it feels so good. I love that we are the people that Tony calls when he needs a helping hand and having regular hang outs together. The feeling is mutual across the board and that is a beautiful thing. The moral of the story? Be that neighbor!! Be the neighbor who fixes an extra plate at dinner. Be the neighbor who offers to take the trash out or shovel the walkway. Be the neighbor who is never too busy for a chat. It will do both parties a world of good and the relationship with our beloved neighbor is a testament to that. ❤

Johnny and I love our apartment so much and Tony is part of the reason why. I am so happy to have and be a good neighbor and the smoke detector story was a wonderful reminder!

Do you have a great neighbor? Have you ever had an awful neighbor? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah