Neighborhood Changes

I've lived in my house for more than 23 years now, and the neighborhood has gone through many changes in that time. But this year, we've lost two neighbors to unusual circumstances.

Across the street, a lady in her sixties, who has lived in that house since she was a litle girl, was foreclosed on. Seems she had borrowed a big chunk of change, and then failed to make a single payment on the loan. When they evicted her, she didn't have time to remove a lifetime of stuff, and it was just thrown out into the yard and hauled away in dumpsters. It was appalling.
The bank sold the house to someone who spent a couple of months remodeling the kitchen and bathroom, painting, and fixing up the façade and landscaping. Now he's trying to rent it for $400 more than any other renthouse on the block. Needless to say, it's still empty.

Next door, our alcoholic/diabetic neighbor had lost his job (his boss set him up to be fired), and spent the summer drinking himself to death. After he died, his roommate and erstwhile girlfriend, who was not on his rental agreement and was disliked by the landlady, was told she needed to vacate ASAP, but, having no truck and little help or money, has taken several days to get her stuff out of the house. She's been friends with Gaby and myself since she moved in, so Gaby helped as much as he could. She's not particularly motivated, so that's slowed down the process as well.

Being "front porch" people, Gaby and I have always been friends with the neighbors. We kind of hibernate in the winter, but when we emerge next spring, everything is going to be different.