Like a good neighbor...Helen is there

Here is our good neighbor Helen and her dog Magnolia...Bows likes to keep Magnolia at a distance.
But sometimes they venture close to sniff each other or steal a dog treat.

Other times, the only glimpse you get of Magnolia is a white blur dashing past you in her frantic run to jump on Bows. :-) (See story below for more details.)

The first time Matthew and I came to the look at the house that we would eventually buy, our realtor told us to go out front and "really" take a look at the house. As we were standing out in front of our future home, we heard a little voice say "Are you my new neighbors?" That was the beginning of our friendship with Helen Bradbury.

Turns out, Helen and I belong to the same church and her grandchildren went to Sunday School and middle and high school with my brother and I. Helen also always has a story (be prepared for a long talk), loves to have you come inside for a visit and adores her little 3-year-old Maltese named Magnolia...Maggie for short.

Bows on the other hand....she's not always fond of Magnolia, but after a year of Maggie jumping all over her, she is slowly warming up to the little white fluff ball two houses down.

Helen's husband died many years ago and she has only one son still living, so she sometimes needs some help with household chores, visits to Urgent Care and someone to talk to. She even came to our wedding after a week of not feeling well.

Just yesterday,she told me her friend Colleen was biten by her 8-year-old cat and ended up with Cat Fever and in the hospital. Helen keeps telling Colleen to get rid of her cat and finally Colleen told Helen "If you don't stop saying that, I am not going to be your friend anymore Helen." Helen does not understand why Colleen feels this way. (FYI: I have heard this story twice. Helen is VERY hard of hearing and has moments of possible Alzheimer's. Case in point: The first 4 times I visited her, she said "Oh come in Sarah. You have never seen the inside of my house.)

However, Helen is a great neighbor and at the ripe old age of 83, she knows how to say hello, which is sad to say but all of the neighbors who are our age are not very friendly. So thanks for being a good neighbor Helen...and Magnolia!