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Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Joy of Normal

A profile of a Happy Family

Happy is a normal family with growing children and loving parents living together within the neighbourhood in peace and harmony. Of course there will be the usual disagreements and discipline issues, but in general they are dealt with within a normal noise level, and without disturbing the peace.

We have lived in our home for ten years. When we bought the house one set of our neighbours were noisy and profane. It was my wife's choice to buy the house, it usually is the choice of the wife, in spite of the neighbours. The noise level never did lower, in fact the problem got worse as circumstances changed with neighbours on the other side of our house, that led to domestic problems that were acted out at the top of the decibel range. Life had become intolerable.

I refer to these neighbours as Number 1 and Number 2. Things began to change as in the house of number 1, (the original problem house), two of the residents died. The noise level probably did lower a little, although it didn't really seem like it. That was because over at house number 2 the noise level increased. There was actual abuse going on there which attracted the attention of the authorities, and happily that led to removal of one of the persons to a wonderful house that provides the right atmosphere that has allowed that young person to thrive.

We came home one day to see a "For Sale" sign attached to house Number 1. My wife and I said if only that would happen that could be the answer to our most fervent wishes. However, the real estate market is practically non-existant, so that would be a long shot.

Meanwhile, over at house number two, the remaining occupant was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and subsequently died. At house number 1 the noise level continued unabated.

One day my wife said that it seemed very quiet in the neighbourhood. We assumed that was because the loud ones were away from home. Then we noticed that there was a person at the house, and the "For Sale" sign had been removed. Our neighbours from hell had simply vanished in the night. They are actually gone!

Good bloody riddance!

For a couple of weeks all has been tranquil. Last night over at house number two relatives gathered around the pool for dinner and normal happy conversation. Finally, we can now say that we live in a perfectly normal neighbourhood. Now, we can finally exhale.

Except, house number 1 has nine bdrooms and there are only two people living there.

That's not normal, is it?

Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael