Things I will Miss

It is rather strange that it has taken the news that I am leaving the village to get other people that I have known here by sight, to start talking to me. I have always tried to be friendly and open, but others seemed rather cautious and closed. Yet just trying to go about my normal activities I have people coming up to me telling me they are sorry to hear I am leaving.

While I really like the village I am moving from, especially the woods that surround it, and it always the people that make a place, there is a lack of community spirit lodged with a minority here. There are still people that have that spirit, but there is a rather negative attitude that has become rather draining. So while I will miss many of the people here when I do move, there will also be a few that I will not miss.

The person that has prompted this posting though is a story of hope though. As when I first moved to this village, there were various people who were involved in drugs. I was even offered drugs the first time I went to one of the local pubs. I even met a young woman who initially got on with, but I disassociated myself from as she was a drug user. I did say to her that she was unwise to be using and she would be better off not using them.

Yesterday, while waiting for the bus to return home from getting food shopping, she spotted me and came over to say hello. Now I had not seen her for almost three years, but she had heard I was moving. Well the gossip is better than the telephone system. Anyway she was saying she was sorry to see me leaving and that I had been instrumental in her seeking treatment so she is now drug free.

As I told her it was her efforts not mine that enabled her to obtain that goal. I also made it clear that I had someone in my life and she too had met someone. I was glad to hear that as it concerned me that she may have still held a candle for me. However, it is good to hear that she has got her life back in control.

As well as some of the people that I will miss, I will miss the local countryside and the wildlife. It will not surprise my long suffering reader that I will miss seeing the Red Kites. However, it is likely that I will see other wildlife where I am moving to.