When I was five years old, a sibling passed away after a lengthy and difficult battle with cancer. This sibling and I were close to being twins - the sibling was 13 months older than me. As one might imaging, there aren't many, if any, events that are more difficult for a family. My parents and older siblings were completely devastated.
It would have been easy for our neighbors to pretend that nothing happened to our family. They knew what happened and they knew it was difficult for the family, including me. Most of our neighbors were getting up in years. They had other things to do than worry about the chatty little neighbor kid. However, the Clarks always made sure that whenever they got a toy with their cereal, they gave it to me. Mr. Clark was an expert woodcrafter and would make me various toys. Mr. and Mrs. Rich would always make sure to invite me over for special events when their grandchildren visited. Dr. and Mrs. O'Reilly did the same. Mrs. Euless taught me how to golf at an exclusive country club and would invite me to sit with big shots and NFL games.
These neighbors took an interest in making sure that a devastating and tragic incident in early life would not lead me down erroneous paths. If they saw me doing something wrong, they yelled at me and told me to stop. They didn't tell my parents - they didn't have to. I respected them as authorities just as I repected my parents. I did not want to disappoint any of them.
I am eternally grateful that these people were part of my life.
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