Bitter-Sweet

I step outside and neighbours H turn around the corner in their white up!.
It´s raining and he opens the window to wave hello - isn´t that man too sweet?

It was a longer search for a parking space and we met again at the house when I came back.

He´s a tad older than her, 85, maybe?
We chatted a bit and he then said to her, "stop keeping our neighbour busy", to which I replied that I´m not busy at all.

They live in 4th floor and after a while he said his grinny good-bye and started his way up (! ... ;-)...).

What we talked about?
Italy, wine and beer. Sport, Ingo (always so hectical, but a nice man).

Well. Over an hour later I was in our condo, too, and Ingo asked, "where´ve you been?!!!"

It was sad. Mrs H, I think she suffers of Dementia or Alzheimer´s.
She often looses track, often repeats the same story, but she is so nice you just cannot go away.
Also she says nice things! ;-)
"My Grandchild is eleven now. She´s as sweet as you are."
Well, I´m "a tad" older, no?

But also... "did you not want children or could´t you?" - wow.

My Granma had the same, Alzheimer´s, we assume, she passed April 2002.
Try not to cry to see history repeat itself.

The fear it might happen to oneself, too. Or to your partner, what is worse?

Their bodies are fit for being 80+ but when the mind, the brain, the self goes away...

Another neighbour, I think she lives alone, I never saw her with anyone (and we live here since 2011)... weee.
Mrs H said, "don´t forget an umbrella ;-)" - "I have one in the car!!!!".

And I thought she does not like me. She likes no-one, poor woman. Unfriendly to everyone :-(
Who knows what´s happened to her, maybe something very sad?

It´s bitter to loose your brain, it´s sweet to have memories of when you were young.
THAT she still has, our Mrs H, she still talks of her wedding, how she was pregnant already (uhhh, too much info ;-)....).
And yet,... "if one of us dies the other one has to go to an old people's home" - it broke my heart.

Reasonable one moment, lost the other.
Frightening.
And she realizes it, too ("What was I wanting to say?") - is it my job to.... what?
She has kids, Grandkinds.... I´m just "the nice neighbour", right.

And hope that one day, like Udo Jürgens, I just drop down and that was it...

"We" fly to the moon, to mars, but cancer, Alzheimer´s & co remain unsolved dangers.
How can that be...