I'm afraid...

I don't know what to do about something that happened on the Labour Day long weekend and I just need somewhere to express it.

Preamble

My next door neighbour's family has experienced a run of bad luck. The main breadwinner was a colleague of mine here at the City. A really nice man. A couple of years ago he had a heart attack. He was ready to come back to work after recovering when they discovered his body was full of cancer. He passed away over a year and a half ago. It was so sad - he was a really nice man. He adored Honey - she used to go over and visit with him while I was at work, in the afternoons. He enjoyed her company.

So his wife was left picking up the pieces of their lives. They have two sons, both intellectually challenged. The older one is more functioning. I hate to say it but he has always given me the heebie-jeebies. He would stare at me, even go so far as to sit on his deck and watch me cut the grass. I'd see him peering in through my windows. And he seemed so full of anger at times. There were times I'd lock my doors, close my windows, turn off my lights and sit in the dark frightened by the vehemence of his anger.

The Fire

On the Friday night of the Labour Day weekend, I awoke to the sound of a ruckus outside. When I looked out my front window, I saw a crowd on the street - I thought it was a party. When I looked out the window over my kitchen sink, I saw flames in the living room of my neighbour's home. I calmly called 911 and was told they were on the way. I woke up the Boy, and Honey followed us outside.

I won't go into the details of what happened. There were Police, EMTs and eventually the Fire Department. The fire was out in relatively short time - thankfully my house was never in any danger. But it was scary. I pray I never come any closer than that to a house fire.

Arson

The son has now been charged and remanded for a psychiatric evaluation. And I am so sorry for my neighbour. But I'm scared for me and my family. What will the future bring? Will he come back once they replace the house. Will I ever feel as safe around him again? Will I ever be able to not worry about what he might do to his family.

Lord help us all. Please pray for resoultion for all of us, for the world to move forward and things to get better.