New Year's: For a neighbor, out with the old for one last time

 Two other subjects on which to write about came and went about an hour ago when I heard the sound of a diesel engine outside. I’d heard that sound before — a local city ambulance.

 The paramedics were  soon joined by a supervisor and was followed by several police cars. I could tell when they emerged from my neighbor’s apartment that things didn’t look good. That turned out to be with good reason. 

 My neighbor was dead. A friend of his went to check on him and from what he and the police said, the neighbor, Doc,  probably had been dead anywhere from a few days to a week.

 I liked Doc. I wouldn’t say we were friends but we were pretty close acquaintances. He lived next door and whenever we saw each other and had a minute we’d talk. He had just started receiving disability checks earlier this year after the battle that many have obtaining the disability status. As I told the police, he seemed to be in pain all the time. I’m not sure what all kinds of medical problems he had but I think he may have also had neuropathy as I do. As for the cause of his death, I’m sure the coroner will determine that if the body is in a sufficient state. But the bottom line is likely natural causes.

Doc was 62. I’m not sure. The cops ran his license and he might have been 59 or 60. He was in the range of late 50s to early 60s.

 When Hurricane Ike hit and we were all without power I sat out in the yard with Doc and my former neighbor Gene where we talked about anything and everything. It was then that I got to know Doc better. However, I never really knew him well.

 I’ve mentioned here before that when I saw my neighbor, he would often rant over something he heard on Fox News, fair and balanced.

 The  friend who found Doc after having the manager opened the apartment was, after knowing each other for more than 20 years, pretty much his real next of kin. He had a couple of ex-wives and a daughter, but they were not close, according to his friend. The police were having a difficult time figuring out who to call. Who will be responsible for disposition of his body and what he owns?

 It’s sad for someone’s life to come to an end like that. Also, it didn’t escape me nor did it pass by his friend that Doc was going out on New Year’s Eve. His friend particularly was disturbed by that especially after having discovered Doc”s lifeless body at year’s end — I’m lost for words here trying to be respectful and tasteful for a change — after the man had been dead for perhaps more than a few days. I trust most of you understand what I’m saying.

 We tend to look at New Year’s as out with the old and in with the new. We have the vision of the stork bringing in the new baby while behind the scenes the Grim Reaper is doing his deeds. But in the end we are all part of the process, what Joni Mitchell sang so lovely, “The Circle Game.” A cycle. We see it all the time.

 But that doesn’t particularly make that cycle more appealing when one goes away for good, that is, if it is someone you know.

 Speaking of, the morgue SUV is getting ready to take Doc away. So long Doc. It’s been good to know you.