I live in a neighborhood that doesn't quite know what segment of the population that it caters to. There is a couple of young-families without children, many who have their children out of the house and/or couples who never chose to have any, and many grandparent types. There is only two families (including ours) that have a number of children in the elementary range and several that have teens. So, with the neighborhood that boasts of an eclectic smattering of age-ranges and lifestyles, we are blessed with a peek into challenges that may arise for us in the future.

My next door neighbors on one side are the grandparent-snowbird types who are in Arizona for most of the year and boast the perfectly manicured lawn when they are home with a beautiful pond on their property. Yes, they are the ones who give me lawn shame as they have the perfect equipment and all the time in the world to mow their lawn every day and manage a beautiful landscape.

On the other side of us is an odd couple. Lee is a 90 year old woman who was one of the originals in the neighborhood. She remembers when all the houses were built and speaks often of her husband who died 20 years earlier. Her daughter "Margie" lives with her and may be in her 60s or so. Lee used to do all her own yard work until about a year ago as her hips started to bother her and I believe she began suffering from some sort of dementia. Margie used to walk their dog in a pink stroller every day. This odd couple is very private and with age Lee has become very suspicious.

The other day, Lee fell at the end of the driveway at about 7am. She was crawling back to her house with just her arms and my mother-in-law, who lives up the hill and across the way from us, saw her and immediately ran down to help. She grabbed my husband and they went together to help Lee up and make sure that she was ok. Margie was out of town for a week or so, and my brother-in-law who is in the tween years was charged with picking up their mail everyday. So, our families were aware of Lee's situation and did our best to help her.

For the rest of the day, we were all very conscious of the fact that Lee may have been injured, but realized that Lee had explicitly told us to leave her alone.

I went to work and around 7pm, I got a text: "Lee fell in the kitchen and the door is locked, the police are here."

I wondered why Lee didn't press her Life Alert button, but knew that soon the cops would come to Starbucks and fill me in (as they stop by every night).

As the cops walked in and told us of their day, I asked after Lee. It turns out that she had fallen at 12 and didn't get picked up until 7. She was "waiting till the morning, gathering her strength, so that she could get up". She indicated that she didn't want to press her Life Alert because she didn't want to go to the hospital. The family was trying to help her out and she completely refused service from everyone. The cop told me that she is an extremely stubborn woman and he's worked with her before. He used the word ornery...

Well, Lee was taken by ambulance to the hospital to await Marjorie's return. We didn't hear from anyone for several days, but soon saw the cars in the driveway and Marjorie approached the family.

She indicated that Lee had had some brain injury (after having fallen several times that we may not even have been aware of) and Lee didn't even remember falling the second time. She remembers my mother-in-law bringing her into the house in the morning and waking up in the hospital. Marjorie indicated that my mother-in-law saved Lee's life as she was "out" until the police came into the house. If she had been left there, she would have died because Marjorie was not to be home for several more days.

Now, they have to have someone with her at all times.

My heart goes out to this family. The reason I relay this story is simply because sometimes in thinking about challenges of our futures and helping out our fellow neighbors, we glean knowledge and compassion for those around us. I'm terrified of Alzheimer's as it runs in my family. I haven't seen my grandparents in quite awhile, not that they'd remember me. However, I'm sick to my stomach thinking about what those who live near them must manage.

I'm not sure how much more time Lee has, but I wonder if this summer may be her last.