Just down the block from our house is an adorable little yellow house. The previous owner put a lot of work into the house renovating it. I enjoyed walking past it on my way to the bus and seeing the progress they had made. The house was sold not quite a year ago. Except for the addition of a small satilite dish on the roof, there hasn't been any indication of the new owners. Except today.
I was walking down the hill and a woman who lives there pulled her scooter out of the garage, blocking the sidewalk, just as I was walking by. She apologized for the blocking. I told her not to worry about it and we smiled and went on our way. It was a beautiful sky blue Vespa scooter.
I continued down the hill, and proceeded to miss the bus by a block. Grr. The next bus came and as I was fretting that I would be late to my graphic facilitation class I noticed that there was an accident at 7th and Townsand. There were fire trucks, police directing traffic, and an ambulance. "Great," I thought, "just what I need this morning." The bus shouldered through the intersection, bisecting the emergency response team.
As we road through, I saw the police standing next to a pale blue scooter. It didn't appear to have any damage, and there was no one else around. But my heart still sank. I think my neighbor was in an accident this morning.
I hope she is okay. Sure there are lots of people in this city with blue Vespas. But the timing and distance make me think it was her. It seems strange to me that "the people in the yellow house" became "that nice blonde woman on the scooter" to me today. And then something tragic happens to her.
Not that I think my smiling at her caused the accident. More, that there is a lesson in there about getting to know people before they are gone. Who else have I been waiting to get to know cause I'm too busy right now? Will they be there when I finally "have time?" What am I missing by not having them in my life now?
