We need more block parties!

After reading about the woman who had been dead in her garage for 7 years and no one had noticed she was gone.....I read today about twins in Tennessee that were found dead in their recliners and had been there since 2011.  Same scenario as the other incident.  The twins kept to themselves and the neighbors really didn't know them.  

"Police made a welfare check on them in 2011 at the request of a relative, but found nothing untoward to lead them to break into the house. They said a relative told them that it would be unsurprising if the twins moved without telling anyone in the family."

"Some just assumed the house was vacant."

"Although the Johnson brothers had stopped cutting their own grass, neighbors said it kept getting cut. No one has been able to say who maintained it, whether a neighborhood volunteer, relative or someone else."

"A note inside the mailbox indicated that mail delivery had stopped because the postal service thought the Johnson brothers had moved."

All this got me to thinking about my own neighborhood.  I've lived in the same house for 45 years.  In the beginning I knew every neighbor on my block.  I knew them by name and their children by name and socialized with almost every one of them.

We met outside on summer evenings and had coffee and desert together.  We had New Year's Eve parties and played cards together. 

Today.....I know the names of 5 of my neighbors.  I don't know all their last names though.  I rarely see any of them with the exception of the couple that lives directly across the street.  Judd and his wife Alice have lived there about 10 years and they would notice if Ron and I hadn't been seen in awhile but I doubt anyone else would notice. 

The world has changed over the years and so have our neighborhoods.  I never see children playing outside anymore.  The last time I saw a child in my neighborhood was when a child from 3 blocks away stopped by to sell us cookies.

We had a neighbor pass away alone in her home 2 years ago.  Since she was very involved in her church it is sad to say they were the first ones to miss her on a Sunday morning.  It wasn't her neighbors her found her but her church family.  Thank goodness she hadn't been dead for days.....she had passed away sometime the day before.

This makes me want to host a block party!