UPDATE:The good, the bad, the ugly, and the unknown.

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For the few that have asked, I will update my post about my sweet old neighbor and his death. I wrote this original post last week. His daughter and granddaughters are cleaning out his home today. They had to wait until there was a complete investigation. We were all in the dark about what had happened, and completely mystified as to how terrible it may have been, given all of the fanfare that went on. His daughter came to see me today, to thank me for being so good to her Dad. It seems that she wanted to have a better relationship with him than she had since her mother passed a few years ago. She also wanted to line up some help for him--housekeeping, etc. and I guess he threw a fit. She knew it was not safe for him to drive as he was nearly blind from macular degeneration, and his doctor refused her request to sign to get his license revoked. She had reports he had run into things, ran stop signs, and nearly hit pedestrians...she knew she had to do something and she tried but received no cooperation from anyone. She told me he planned his death, which has shocked everyone. He put a folding chair against the inside of the front door, and shot himself in the head with a pistol. She didn't know he even had a gun anymore, and had never seen him use a pistol. He used to hunt with an old rifle. So that was the reason for the crime scene investigators, etc. and all of the squad cars, etc. He had told a few people he knew he needed to move elsewhere to have help, and he didn't want to. His daughter was as shocked as the rest of us here, as he was deeply religious, and had stated many times he didn't believe in suicide. I guess the poor old fellow was more desperate than any of us knew he was. Anyway...now I have to figure out how to tell my son how he died, and I am dreading it. I am going to wait until later this evening. Dale would come over and talk to son about things, and both seemed to enjoy the interaction. Dale wanted to be with his wife. He visited her grave every day. His body will be laid to rest next to hers. If you know someone elderly who is very lonely, reach out if you can. None of us knows what the future holds for us...small kindnesses make a difference. The good~ Today we went to a birthday dinner at my daughter's house. It was for both my son and I--mine was two weeks ago and they were really sick with viral pneumonia, so then we rescheduled it for Feb. 4th, tomorrow, which is the son's birthday. But we had an appointment changed and rescheduled it for today instead. Confused yet? Yep...it's our life, it's just what we do, there is always a workaround. We had such a great dinner and a nice time visiting with them. The bad. Some of you may remember me speaking of my 91-year-old neighbor, Dale. He has been failing rapidly since his wife died of cancer about 2 years ago. He suffers from macular degeneration, his sight is very poor, he is unsteady on his feet, and he lost a lot of weight. I tried to take him homemade soup every time I make it, but it had been several days since I was over there due to the weather, the sidewalks, etc. I knew he had food to eat because I had seen his pantry recently, so I wasn't worried any more than usual. I was planning on making soup again tomorrow and taking him some. The ugly. About 3:15 PM, we got in the car to leave and backed out of the garage. And we went...nowhere, for some time. The entire street was squad cars, a big firetruck, a crime scene investigation van, and two ambulances. Good grief! This is a quiet, residential street. We are downright boring here! Some officers came and told me if I wanted to leave, I had to leave immediately as the entire street was being locked down. They moved cars and got me out of here. As I left the subdivision, 3 more squad cars flew past me. This all went down at Dale's place. I heard one of them say, what a bloody mess, another officer said do we put up crime scene tape, or? A neighbor texted me later to tell me that all of the emergency vehicles were gone. I was dreading to officially hear about Dale and what happened. When I turned on my street, it was filled back up again--at Dale's. An ambulance was right behind me. They had more investigators, putting samples in bags and bringing them out, etc. They moved some vehicles out of the way and I managed to squeeze past and got to the driveway. Hard to even imagine what has happened. Maybe he fell. I don't think he owned a gun? I have no idea. No one says he's deceased, but he must be. With all of this hullabaloo, no one knows anything. The poor old fellow...all he wanted was to just live out his days and to ''visit'' his wife's grave, every single day. He loved it when I visited and sometimes, he came over to visit with my son. He never missed a church service unless he was really sick. He wasn't perfect, but he was a very kind man. I hope he didn't come to a violent end, my son and I, as well as the neighbors, are all very concerned. It's hard to think of him possibly on the floor in pain, or that he didn't reach out for help, or he couldn't. He had been considering assisted living. I wish he had gone to it sooner. Cherish your friends and family. We just never know how long we will have them.