Regina

She always beat the sun to smoke her morning cigarette on her porch.

Her daily pack took the edge off the internal and external pain.

She spent most of her days sitting on the little porch watching her neighbors live their lives.

I always wondered what was going through her head.

When the landscape crew came in she would hop off her chair and yell at them for the constant trash, dead tree and weeds that needed to be plucked.

They know better to listen to her. She sent in complaints weekly.

The old woman was passionate for her tiny garden and her tiny dog.

She hated the loud noise from her neighbors and banged on their doors to tell to quiet down.

She would spend time with another older woman and helped her around the house.

No matter what, she would always be on your side when the annoying neighbor turned off your dryer to throw in their wet shorts.

She would remind you that you need to change the light bulb by your front door.

I miss seeing her every day when I check my mail.

I miss her scratchy voice when she yelled my name and asked about my day.

I know she is no longer in pain but I wish I had more time to get to know her.

Time is so short, don’t take those short passings and small talk for granted.