I've been a little pensive the last couple of days. On Saturday, the police paid a visit to our complex and picked up a woman who lives near our home. Last summer I talked to her and her children quite a bit. She seemed a little socially inept but not overly unstable. I think that she has had a pretty stressful life. She is very defensive, aloof, and insists on teaching her 7 and 5 year old children that "no one's looking out for them but themselves..."
She definitely wasn't popular around here. She loves to garden though and we would talk about plants and the possibility of a communal compost for the complex.


Once I started work, I would see her sitting on her front porch sipping a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette. We would always acknowledge each other and I would occasionally see her two sons after school.


After being at work for awhile I stopped seeing her in her usual seat. I now realize that I hadn't actually seen her children for quite awhile - although I saw trucks and other toys on the porch.


Last weekend, after the three of us came back from the park, we saw a police van and unmarked car in our parking lot. As I walked past, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach that all the authority was for this neighbour. As it turns out, about an hour later a friend of mine saw the police lead her away to the van.


Of course, I don't know what's going on. There is no way for me to find out and it's definitely not my business. Nevertheless, I am worried about her and the two children. I haven't seen them for so long. I feel like I should have noticed (or at least wondered about) something being up a long time ago. Egotistical of me isn't it...


I know that, rationally, the safest thing to do was keep my distance from a woman who, in my opinion, had questioning mental stability. However, I can't help but wonder, what happened to the "community" I thought I was moving into? I really didn't get to know her family at all. She is a single Mom and seemed quite lonely. If I had invited her into my home at least once would she have felt she had support? Would she even have accepted my offering of friendship?


This is crazy. I have no idea what's going on.


I look for the three of them every time I walk past that porch now. No one has been home since Saturday. I feel like crying but I'm not exactly sure why.