Orchids Galore, Ginter Botanical Garden Copyright 2012: singeronthesand
When you grab all you can get, that's what happens:
the more you get, the less you are.
Proverbs 1:19
Yesterday I said goodbye to a man who has lived next door to me for the last two years (let's call him "Joe"). He is a very nice older fellow who is looking for affection and companionship. He met the woman who owns the house next door, moved in, and immediately she talked him into putting the utilities in his name. $1800 later (and not a single bill paid), the electric company was yelling for their money, so she transferred Joe to a crude apartment in the garage and conned another man into putting his name on her utility bill.
In the midst of this hot mess is a daughter in her 20's who is a drug addict, a live-in boyfriend of the daughter (also a drug addict and the third man with his name on the utility bills), an aggressive pit bull that belongs to the daughter, and her 5-year-old adorable little girl. Joe would probably have moved on a long time ago if it weren't for this beautiful child. She soon had Joe wrapped around her little finger, and in the midst of the grabbing at the brass ring going on in the rest of the family, Joe quietly went about parenting her to the best of his abilities.
Last week the house of cards came tumbling down. The utility company finally caught on to the multiple "owners" on the electricity account and shut off the power, removing the meter box. I heard the generator start up last Monday and knew immediately what had happened. On Friday, the water was shut off and it was the end of the line. Saturday afternoon, Joe walked across the lawn to say goodbye. He has been a good neighbor and a good friend, and I am really sorry for the emotional entanglements that have tied him to that house of horrors. He deserves better. But we all live by the choices that we make, and for the foreseeable future, he has thrown his lot in with the child and her grandmother. My prayers go with them.
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