Being Neighborly

I have confess to having a dilemma. We need to move a tree on our property that was planted by the former owners when their daughter was born, and we thought the right thing to do was to contact them and let them play a role in deciding where to put it, but after some discussion and much thought, I realized that wasn't right. When we first moved in here we relied on Marty to help us with things around the house, and she was great, as was Scott. They are so capable and knowledgeable that they can answer anything you need to know.

But you begin to realize that at least Marty is having a hard time letting go, which is completely understandable, she built this house and raised her family here, it means so much to her. But she did push us hard to make the sale, and she did make it difficult on us, and besides all that stuff, she really needs to let go. By wanting to be so involved in every aspect of this house, she is making it more difficult on all of us. It's painful for her family, and it makes our lives hard because it's so awkward having her here, checking out the house to see what we've done. It's too much and makes us uncomfortable. We can't relax in our own home, and it clings to the idea that it still belongs to her.

In the end, we just felt that it wasn't quite right for Marty to choose where to put their tree on our property. Besides the fact that it keeps her invested in the house, it's our house! It just keeps promoting the process, and that just feels wrong. Gotta go with your gut.

So I did a bit of an about face and told them that rather than letting them decide where to put the tree, we'll put it near Alden's tree, in the wild flower patch. I was expecting to hear loud protests from Marty, but nothing came, another example of how this makes it suck having her in the loop. I don't want her to dictate the situation, something she is used to, but I don't want to be a dick about it, either. I'm not sure what to do, but feel I owe at least an explanation to Scott.

Man, what am I supposed to do? Part of me wonders whether Marty is keeping in touch because she wants to be a friend, she's a very nice person and we like her, but part of me also wonders if she just wants to keep tabs on the house and hopefully get it back. It's very awkward.

We'll just go with that. Somehow I get the feeling we're going to see Marty today, she tends to just show up. She likes the face-to-face confrontation, much like my mom and Liz. They just have the upper hand when they're in your presence, and work it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.