- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
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- 36,969
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- Location
- The Centennial State
- Resorts Owned
- Wyndham; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge, Shadow Ridge and Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few); WKORV-OFC-4 and Westin Desert Willow.
Our neighbor across the street died sometime in the last week or two. The cops came to my door this morning to ask when we saw him last. I don't know how old he was, but he was kind of a hermit, and he never shoveled his walks or did anything with his yard, so people rarely saw him outside. He had a Harley and a pickup truck that were both always garaged, and he rarely went anywhere, but we live in the back of our house, so he may have come and gone more often than we knew. He was dead for a good long time, sounds like.
His son moved out a long time ago, he is probably about 20 now. He was kind of a weird kid, always in trouble, and once about four years ago, I saw this boy walk out of his house with a gun, right at the time school let out. I happened to be upstairs curling my hair in front of the window, and here he comes, pointing this gun at his friend's car, laughing crazily, and the car was full of his friends. He climbed into the car and headed toward the elementary school, 1/2 a block down the street. I called 911, and they apprehended the kids in front of the school (impressive in itself). I was worried they were going to shoot some kids, seriously I was. Turned out to be a pellet gun, one of the black handgun types. I was relieved it wasn't what I thought, and the cops were ever so grateful I didn't just let this go, in case they were going to rob a store or something with it. These were not the honor student kids from the local high school in that car.
The boy was charged with some misdemeanor, because pellet and bebe guns are illegal in this city, and there was a rumor circling amongst the neighborhood kids that I was a busybody. OH, WELL, GEE, I ratted on a kid with a gun!! Who cares what a bunch of 12-17 year-old kids think.
So many recent tragedies in this neighborhood, and even some older ones. One boy who lived diagonally from our door hanged himself when he was a young 20 something, but it was apparently an accident. We knew his parents well, and his little brother was a good friend of our son's.
The young woman who grew up in the house two doors down from us was killed by a gang, because she was hanging out and was pregnant by a known gang member. I guess the opposing gang broke into their apartment and shot them while they were in bed. Her little brother was another good friend of the same son.
The young man who grew up across the street from that girl, a good friend of our oldest son, was killed when he hit a tree with his motorcycle. This was just about two years ago. His dad died, on his motorcycle, on the same road 28 years before, just a few blocks away from where Billy died. Billy usually wore a helmet, but he gave his helmet to his passenger, who walked away from the incident without a scratch. I hate motorcycles, because his mom suffered another terrible loss, as if it was pre-ordained to happen, and Billy left two very young children without a dad. Billy Sr. also left Billy and Kelly without a dad when they were toddlers. Very sad to see the same thing happen to a son that happened to the dad.
My dear, dear friend Jayne, who lived across the street but was a friend for much longer (35 years), died two years ago, December 9th, after she had a severe stomachache. We were in Orlando at the time, and when I came back, several neighbors told me what they could piece together from what they saw. She didn't have a funeral, and her family had her body cremated before any investigation was done. I have always been suspicious of her brother, whom she added to her home's ownership via a Quit Claim deed.
Jayne's son, Travis, was arrested mid-November, seven weeks ago, for killing a 21-year-old in a road rage incident. He pulled out a gun from his console and shot the young man for cutting him off:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13792736
I babysat for Travis from birth-3 years, while Jayne worked. He was the sweetest baby. He got into trouble from middle school on, and everyone thought he had turned his life around as an adult. He was service manager at one of the big Ford dealers for a long time. Travis was obviously not as rehabilitated as we thought. Too bad his dad wasn't more of a role model and disciplinarian in his life. This could have been a completely different young man, if his dad didn't keep saying, "Boys will be boys," laughing at all of his pranks his entire life. Jayne was disgusted with the behaviors, and she was constantly fighting against her then husband about his "leave it be" attitude.
We have had our share of bad in this neighborhood. We have lived here 30 1/2 years, so maybe this is normal, but I don't think so.
His son moved out a long time ago, he is probably about 20 now. He was kind of a weird kid, always in trouble, and once about four years ago, I saw this boy walk out of his house with a gun, right at the time school let out. I happened to be upstairs curling my hair in front of the window, and here he comes, pointing this gun at his friend's car, laughing crazily, and the car was full of his friends. He climbed into the car and headed toward the elementary school, 1/2 a block down the street. I called 911, and they apprehended the kids in front of the school (impressive in itself). I was worried they were going to shoot some kids, seriously I was. Turned out to be a pellet gun, one of the black handgun types. I was relieved it wasn't what I thought, and the cops were ever so grateful I didn't just let this go, in case they were going to rob a store or something with it. These were not the honor student kids from the local high school in that car.
The boy was charged with some misdemeanor, because pellet and bebe guns are illegal in this city, and there was a rumor circling amongst the neighborhood kids that I was a busybody. OH, WELL, GEE, I ratted on a kid with a gun!! Who cares what a bunch of 12-17 year-old kids think.
So many recent tragedies in this neighborhood, and even some older ones. One boy who lived diagonally from our door hanged himself when he was a young 20 something, but it was apparently an accident. We knew his parents well, and his little brother was a good friend of our son's.
The young woman who grew up in the house two doors down from us was killed by a gang, because she was hanging out and was pregnant by a known gang member. I guess the opposing gang broke into their apartment and shot them while they were in bed. Her little brother was another good friend of the same son.
The young man who grew up across the street from that girl, a good friend of our oldest son, was killed when he hit a tree with his motorcycle. This was just about two years ago. His dad died, on his motorcycle, on the same road 28 years before, just a few blocks away from where Billy died. Billy usually wore a helmet, but he gave his helmet to his passenger, who walked away from the incident without a scratch. I hate motorcycles, because his mom suffered another terrible loss, as if it was pre-ordained to happen, and Billy left two very young children without a dad. Billy Sr. also left Billy and Kelly without a dad when they were toddlers. Very sad to see the same thing happen to a son that happened to the dad.
My dear, dear friend Jayne, who lived across the street but was a friend for much longer (35 years), died two years ago, December 9th, after she had a severe stomachache. We were in Orlando at the time, and when I came back, several neighbors told me what they could piece together from what they saw. She didn't have a funeral, and her family had her body cremated before any investigation was done. I have always been suspicious of her brother, whom she added to her home's ownership via a Quit Claim deed.
Jayne's son, Travis, was arrested mid-November, seven weeks ago, for killing a 21-year-old in a road rage incident. He pulled out a gun from his console and shot the young man for cutting him off:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13792736
I babysat for Travis from birth-3 years, while Jayne worked. He was the sweetest baby. He got into trouble from middle school on, and everyone thought he had turned his life around as an adult. He was service manager at one of the big Ford dealers for a long time. Travis was obviously not as rehabilitated as we thought. Too bad his dad wasn't more of a role model and disciplinarian in his life. This could have been a completely different young man, if his dad didn't keep saying, "Boys will be boys," laughing at all of his pranks his entire life. Jayne was disgusted with the behaviors, and she was constantly fighting against her then husband about his "leave it be" attitude.
We have had our share of bad in this neighborhood. We have lived here 30 1/2 years, so maybe this is normal, but I don't think so.
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We re-financed so many times, and now our 15-year mortgage at 4 3/4% is going to finally be paid off. Yay! No more house payments. The interest hasn't helped us much for a long time.
