My Neighbor

I have the cutest neighbor there is! I love my house, I love my job, but one thing that just makes Alturas 100x better is my neighbor, Johnny Looper. She is one of the dearest elderly women I know.

The first time I met her was the day my family and I moved everything in. Before I knew she was bringing fried chicken and all the fixings over for the whole crew for lunch. Her outpouring of kindness doesn't stop there. One day she noticed my car was still in the driveway when I should have been at school. She called me right away to see if I was feeling well. I told her I had decided to stay home that because I had the stomach flu. She brought me a survival kit right away. Last night, she knew I was having company over for dinner and she brought me dessert to serve. Now how sweet is she!

It has been a really blessing to have Johnny in my life now because she has become more than a great neighbor or an adoptive "grandma," she's become a friend. As she is a widow and two of her three children have passed away, we have both shared with each other our feelings of loneliness we have had at times, and we have come up with plans to keep each other busy. She always wants me to come over to just visit. Yesterday she actually called me over just to check out her carpet that had just been shampooed. She was so proud of it. Next, she is planning on teaching me to play penuckle.

Johnny is one of the reasons I feel so comfortable and at home here in Alturas. Here you don't have to worry about age being a reason you aren't close with someone. If you go to a football game, you can sit with whoever you want, young or old. Everyone is neighbors, everyone is friends, and everyone is family.