Okay, so here’s what happened with my daughter and the neighbor. And you know I don’t make this stuff up.
It was last Monday. Daughter, Melissa, lives directly next door to a lady known as the community recluse. This lady lives cater-corner to me as well and in 12 years of living here I have never laid an eyeball on this woman.
Melissa, and her husband at the time, Mike, got to know that lady right quick and every week Kaitlyn would take her trash out to the curb.
This past Monday both Melissa and Kaitlyn were about to come over to my house to put their trash in my trash can but before they went over and knocked on recluse’s door (name is Audrey Jean Bell-more on that saga later) to ask if she needed her trash put out.
Jean (what she calls herself) did have trash to go out and she asked Melissa to please bring in some cases of water from her car. As Melissa was lugging in the water bottles and while Kaitlyn was in the yard getting Jean’s trash, Jean complained of being dizzy and faint. It was very, very hot here Monday, in the mid-90’s.
Melissa was discussing stuff with Jean and, intriguingly, she was sending me text messages while she was talking to the woman. Explaining that they’d be at my house soon, now talking to chatty neighbor. Sent me a couple of text messages to that effect so Jean, it turns out, likes to talk.
Suddenly Jean says she thinks she’s going to pass out.
And she did.
Only, ladies and gems, she did not pass out.
She dropped straight down, dead, dead, dead.
Obviously there’s more to the story. As I type this, in fact, Jean is alive at a local hospital but in a coma where she has been since this past Monday night.
All I know is that Kaitlyn came running into my house and told me that Mommy needed her inhaler, to get the keys and come with her. I wasn’t sure why I needed my house keys but I got upset as Melissa had just finished mowing my back lawn and had been complaining about shortness of breath. I thought the person in trouble was MELISSA.
So I give Kaitlyn the keys and she runs to her house, which was evidently locked as Melissa is super careful not to leave it unlocked and she WAS coming over to my house. Meanwhile I’m limping across the road to see if Melissa was ok. I got my first foot in Melissa’s yard when an ambulance comes roaring in. Now I’m freaking. Melissa needing an inhaler is one thing, ambulances are more ominous.
As I am walking across the street I could hear Melissa softly murmuring something from INSIDE of Jean’s garage, which I thought odd. She didn’t sound like her breath was labored.
As I enter Jean’s garage I see the ambulance guy unpacking to handle Jean’s CPR and there is neighbor Jean, laying on her garage door, blue almost as the sky and not breathing.
Soon four ambulances come, a firetruck and a police car. Kaitlyn and I are all over the place and, in general, chaos.
Turns out that Melissa caught the woman as she fell. Since Melissa always has a cell phone with her, she was able to call 911. They had her do CPR on Jean, something Melissa never did before. She was sweating and pressing on the woman’s chest and sobbing her sorrow at sweating on the unconscious woman. Did this for ten minutes till first ambulance came.
It took all those emergency vehicles over an hour to get out of there. Nobody knew Jean’s next of kin though some neighbors say she had a nephew in Pennsylvania and on and on.
Melissa called hospital that night, next day and went to visit Jean the third day.
Jean’s heart was beating on its own but it took two shocks to get it out of arithymia, and she was on life support.
It would turn out that Melissa did save Jean’s life but you know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, no?
So Melissa follows this drama and it took over four days before Jean’s nephew was found.
Imagine if this woman had died in that house. She might have laid there for a week or more before anybody knew it.
Understand that while Jean IS alive as I type this, and is responding to neurological stimuli et al, she is not in very good shape and is expected to not live without life support. Why the plug has not been pulled by now is a mystery to me.
So this nephew of Jean, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, he’s got the hots or something for Melissa. He comes over to Jean’s house and gives her a low wolf whistle as she was working in her yard (I have NEVER had a man give me a wolf whistle for what that’s worth) and at this point Melissa flat out dislikes the guy.
He tells her that Jean had a “do not resuscitate” order, which meant what for him to tell Melissa that….she was supposed to check her wrist before administering CPR? Do people wear “do not rescusitate” orders when they’re walking around, NOT in a medical institution of some sort?
Jerk also tells Melissa that Jean has a couple of busted ribs which a)she does not, Melissa checked with nurse, and b)even if she did, Melissa was not pushing on her chest hard enough to break a rib. Those paramedics banged on her chest so hard that Melissa remembers thinking that if that’s how hard you have to hit then she didn’t do it right.
It’s the same old, same old. Jean has this awful nephew and he tells Melissa that his half-sister already went into Jean’s house and stole a bunch of money. And go on, he and his daughter, who happens to live close by, were there and they were going treasure hunting in Jean’s home, yes they were.
Meanwhile Melissa’s hurting because, well hey, she was the last person to talk to the woman alive; she and Kaitlyn really liked her. Jean even gave KaILTYN A Christmas present, left it hanging on the mailbox.
So poor Melissa, already having gone through a nasty Protection from Abuse hearing the prior Friday (SHE WON! Got even more than she asked for. Jerk must stay away for a FULL YEAR!)….she has a neighbor drop dead in front of her AND this neighbor has a jerk only living relative, a bunch of vultures, ain’t that always the way?
Melissa’s been up to see Jean a couple of times, she talks to her. Hey, the nurse tells Melissa...the only person visiting Jean that isn’t ready to tear off the woman’s earrings...that she MIGHT pull through this. Though I must wonder why they have not yet pulled that plug.
So that’s where it stands now with Jean and Melissa.
I’m so proud of that child of mine. She’s doing so well, taking care of Kaitlyn, she continues to do my yard work, she sold Mike’s awful truck wreck and his setting up her own business on Ebay.
She’s a great kid….AND SHE SAVES LIVES!
So poor Melissa, already having gone through a nasty Protection from Abuse hearing the prior Friday (SHE WON! Got even more than she asked for. Jerk must stay away for a FULL YEAR!)….she has a neighbor drop dead in front of her AND this neighbor has a jerk only living relative, a bunch of vultures, ain’t that always the way
God bless your daughter.....you have MUCH to be proud of.
Doing the right thing sometimes is a hard call or is it no good thing goes unpunished?
You have a wonderful, caring daughter. You’ve done a great job in raising her. I’ll be praying for her and Jean.