Bert and Polly

They live five doors away from me

.I think that they are in their eighties.

They are snowbirds – spending some of each year here in Sarasota, and the balance in Indiana.  I encounter them as sweet, gentle and caring people.  I bet that that have been married for at least sixty years.

They are Bert and Polly.

Some mornings (if I am up and about before they are) I pick up the newspaper from their driveway and place it on the hood (bonnet) of their car, to save them from having to bend over on the driveway.  It’s a little thing, but it means a lot to them.

Most days we chat about the little things when, as I walk Penne, I pass their home, and they happen to be outdoors.

We chat about their newly adopted cat; or about my two cats; or about my dog; or about the weather.

Bert is usually “on message”.

Polly is not quite as sharp.

 I fear that she may be in the early stages of what we used to call “senile dementia”.

As I passed their home yesterday afternoon on a dog walk I noted that another good neighbour (named Jean) was loading Bert and Polly’s baggage into the back of her SUV.

I stopped to help. (The suitcases were very heavy).

It transpired that Jean was about to drive them to Sarasota’s Airport (SRQ) on the first leg of their journey to Indiana, where they will live with their children for the summer.

(Their baggage included a cat carrier. This made me happy, for Polly is besotted with her adopted cat).

So they went their way – en route to SRQ, and Atlanta, and Indiana.

 I also went my way, and continued to walk with my dog.  But I grew sad when it occurred to me that this could well have been my final interaction with Bert and Polly.

I fear that they may become too frail to come back to SRQ next winter.

Au revoir Bert and Polly.  

I hope that it will be "au revoir"  rather than "adieu".