What Weekend?

There is a house across the street from us which has been rented since this past Thanksgiving. The owners had to move to Naples, Florida because the guy is a builder. He specializes in mansion building and there weren’t any more calls for mansions around these parts after he finished his last job. They couldn’t sell their house in time for the move last June, so it sat empty with the real estate sign in the yard until about November. Then, apparently somewhat desperate for money to pay the mortgage, the owners rented to a guy that they had never met. The guy moved in and brought with him 11 kids, some of which are grandchildren. This is a four bedroom modest home, but very nice and had been very well kept. It even has a custom made white picket fence (the pickets are very unique).

There have been many strange happenings over at this house in the last 6 months. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how odd it has been. The renters are African-American Jehovah’s Witnesses. We haven’t really had a chance to get to know them … and I don’t hold out a lot of hope … because they have now been served two notices of eviction from the owner who lives in Florida. (That is because of the unseemly things of which I will spare the details).

Today, a teenage son came over to our yard as John was cutting garden beds and I was planting impatiens and asked if he could borrow a lighter. We gladly obliged. The young man promptly brought it back. A few minutes later, he came back over and asked to borrow the lighter again … apparently the grill had lost its fire. As he walked away, John said, “Happy Memorial Day weekend to you and your family.” The boy paused and said, “You too.” Then John asked him if the whole family were Jehovah’s Witnesses, to which the young man answered in the affirmative. John said kindly, “You all don’t celebrate Memorial Day weekend, then, do you?” The youngster, whose name is Preston, replied, “No … we have Barbeque Weekend.”