Who could ever forget "what's her name?" Names of people I meet infrequently are slipping away from me. What is the name of the eccentric lady that refused to vacate her home after a hurricane flattened the area? The whole area was turned into a state park, everyone got a check from the government, but this one hold out would not move. She lived like a squatter on her old property...in a trailer without water or electricity. I remember she had chickens...and lots of friends who admired her for her fight with the state. She lived there until she died of cancer. This lady said that the state was not paying her what she thought the property was worth. I am guessing the money was put into an account and some clerk was keeping track of it. I bet the bank charged a monthly fee for managing this account. I wonder if any money was left for her estate when she died. I never met this lady, but periodically her story would appear in our local paper. People who fight to be themselves....I admire them, no matter how different they appear to us common people.
Then, there was a young man that hung out on the green. Our "green" is a remnant of colonial common grazing ground for cows and sheep. We fight to keep it undeveloped. Anyways, a young man in military clothes with red hair, would spend his day light hours sitting on the green, reading the bible. You could see He was communicating with God, among the cars and stores. He lived in his own world. He had a backpack and his bible. He was clean. He was harmless. Then I didn't see him anymore.
We also had a delightful young lady with progeria. She lived in town her whole life. Progeria is a genetic disease that accelerates aging. Young people look old. They develop a curious bone structure and lose their hair. Meg was lovely. She was politically active for the handicapped. Her family, always her supporter, altered her house so she could reach the cupboards. Meg wrote for the local paper. She got a group going that advocated for the physically handicapped. She went out socially. She loved to dance. She testified before local government. It was a privilege to be exposed to her personality. Then she died. She knew it. The one thing she asked, and her family complied, was there was to be no autopsy. She had been poked and examined enough.
There are two elders in our town that I very much admire. One is a lady doctor who in her 90s, continued to walk to the hospital to do consultations. She called everyone by their name. I am impressed with those that can do that. The other person was a man who also called everyone by their correct name. A high school in town is named for him. I came late to town...only 25 years ago. On the second time I met him, he called me by name and mentioned something He had learned about me on our first visit. Some people really stand out.