The circle of life.

Most people, and by that I mean most people in the civilized part of the world where we live, don't deal in death. We leave that to the truly evil people in the world, like terrorists who kill in the name of The Almighty, and soul-less rebels in South African nations who slaughter whole villages without batting an eyelash. That doesn't even mention brutal dictators the world over, who kill in the name of power. And closer to home, gang-bangers who think nothing of taking a life, be it each other, or innocent kids who happened to be in the line of fire. And in most cases, death is celebrated. Be it bragging, or partying, or claiming responsibility so the world KNEW it was you and why you did it. But can a virtuous person celebrate death? I have to admit, I have celebrated death a few times. Is it truly wrong?

A few years back, it was Sadaam Hussein, and his evil offspring Uday and Qusay. After hearing of the atrocities they inflicted on their own people, it was easy to be relieved when heard of their demise. And who didn't go "Yes!!" with a fist pump when you heard Bin Laden was dead. Well, maybe his family. Even there I'm not so sure. But closer to home, I recently found out that my ex-next door neighbor developed stage four lung cancer, had a stroke, and died. My first gut reaction was the same as it was for Osama. I am not a hateful person, but this woman was.

I can go on and on about how she indeed was the neighbor from hell. Yard full of barking dogs (I'm talking anywhere from 4 to 10) that she NEVER picked up after and left out all night. Can you imagine that smell in the middle of the summer? A cattery in her basement. (Cattery: A cat breeding business) Over 30 cats were seen by the city inspector when he went over to read the meter. All of this on a quiet little cul-de-sac with modest houses on small lots. The city told her she had to choose between her pets and her house. She chose the cats. Very happy day indeed when she moved out. But, it wasn't over.

After a dispute with me in which I pleaded with her to find a more suitable place to take her business of rescuing dogs and breeding cats, I called the city and alerted them to the illegal activities going on. So to get back at me, she called in a bogus "tip" to a tip hot-line, and without going in the nature of all of that, it was days of harassment to my wife and I, followed by months of turmoil in a courtroom. When it was over, I was exonerated. I was relieved, but bitter. I buried all that deep down and went on with my life, without her as neighbor.

A truly wonderful couple has moved in since, they couldn't possible be any better neighbors if you asked. Giving us fruit and veggies from the garden, letting me borrow all his tools that I don't possess, cutting my grass on his side of the house, and ah yes, he is a computer whiz, rescuing my computers more times than I can count. So it was with a slight bit of irony that he was the one who informed me of her passing. And the one who saw the fist pump and heard the "Yes!!"

Technical Stuff: Further Proof That Psycho Nut Job Neighbor Was Just That (Paragraph 4 in particular)

http://www.newsletter.traditionalcats.com/Alert/2007/BellerSept%202.pdf