Thanks again for prayers for my family & me & our friends & pets. Our neighbor has just passed. He & his wife have been very good to my husband & me. They have helped everyone who needed their help. I knew that he was coming to the end of his life, but I thought I would see him at least once more before the end. I was thinking maybe Halloween.

I am asking for prayers especially for his wife, and I ask to be able to say & do the right things when I see her.

I always look at the obituaries in our weekly local newspaper, checking to see if there is anyone I know or anyone my age or younger. In the past, there was no charge for running an obituary, but in the last few years, it is $50. There are 4 different papers in different parts of the county. If a survivor wants to run the obituary in more than one, each one is $50. I think there are people who would be listed in the obituaries if it still cost nothing, but are left out for financial reasons.

Even with the charge, some of the notices say pretty much just the person's name, city of residence & dates of birth & death. In many cases, the survivors are also listed, sometimes including pets. In the obituaries that say a lot about the person's hobbies, I notice they frequently don't mention a work history.

Even among the regular obituaries, some are noticeably longer than others. I think the average is one or 2 inches of type. My late father-in-law had a longer than average obituary, because he had many relationships & accomplishments. In the past few years, the paper has added a half-page article each week, featuring more information about a particular person who is well-known.

I will not be surprised if our neighbor gets the half-page article this week. He & his wife have had many relationships & accomplishments. Everybody knows them. I guess there will be a visitation or funeral or memorial service, and my husband & I will go. I remember 7 years ago, I had nobody to go with me to my sister-in-law's memorial service, so my neighbors came & kept me company for a while. That was very nice of them.

Anyway, please pray that I will say & do the right things when I see my neighbor's wife. She is such a good person. She has many friends, and I'm sure she doesn't really need emotional support from me, but I hope she will know how much I appreciate all the good things she & her husband have done for my husband & me.