such is life & death

What an eventful time this past week has been, some goodness, some sadness, but such is life…and death. Our neighbor Patty Hiller was killed last week. She was only fifty seven. Coop had spoken to her just moments before. As usual on nice days, she was driving down the road in her horse drawn cart with her cousin as passenger. She stopped by to say hello since Coop was outside shooting the breeze with her brother in law who had stopped by prior. Less than twenty minutes later her BIL came back by to tell us a semi truck had hit her cart on the highway and it didn’t look as if she was going to make it. Sadly, she didn’t. We hope that her cousin, who remains in critical but stable condition does. We also hope that Patty’s sister in law can come to terms with what she witnessed. Our understanding is that the accident happened as Patty was turning into her SIL’s driveway and the SIL was sitting on the porch and saw it happen.

Patty was our neighbor during all the years we lived here prior. When we came back here to settle again last August it was good to know she and her husband Mike were still here as the good neighbors they’d always been. Today when paying our respects, her husband Mike said he was so glad we were his neighbors. We sure feel the same way. For the most part, the people who live here on this country road have been here most if not all of their lives. Though kids have grown and married, they have chosen to stay in this neighborhood. That’s how it is here. Everyone knows their neighbor and knows they can count on one another.

For now we will continue to see Mike as he drives by and waves each day, or when he is farming the fields or driving the tractor up the road. And each time, we’ll send out a kind thought or small prayer for his comfort as he adjusts to life as a widower. We all knew and cared for this gentle woman who loved her family, her many animals and her job as head cook at the high school. But no longer will we here the clip clop of hooves and see Patty passing by, her beautiful horse proudly pulling the cart down the road past our house.