The neighborhood got a little lonelier this week when our good friends Scott and Dawn Greenough packed up and moved from Garner to north Raleigh. It was about a week ago that Dawn called me while I was putting Hallie to bed and asked if I had a key to her house as she had locked herself out. I didn’t find her key, but after a minute of magic I was able to open the door.

We’ll miss that neighborliness that comes from being nearby. Whenever we’d go out of town, the Greenoughs were happy to look after our cat, Smitty. We would return the favor by caring for their cats when they left town. It’s just what neighbors do.

During the god-knows-how-many storms that have struck this area in the four years we’ve lived here, we could always count on the Greenoughs to come by and check on us – and for us to check on them. I’ll never forget the fun we would have on those days so icy and snowy that the two blocks between our houses was the farthest distance worth traveling.

I’ll miss the surprise encounters we’d have with them on the rare occasions when we would actually get out and exercise. We would frequently see them out walking their dog. And even when we didn’t see them drive by, Scott or Dawn would honk their horn as they passed our house, a friendly reminder that they were around.

While they didn’t fall off the face of the earth, they aren’t just “around the way” anymore, a fact that will take some getting used to. We’ll still see get to see them but our neighborhood won’t be the same.

We’re happy for our friends. Their new house is fantastic and we look forward to many fun-filled visits there. Back in our neighborhood, however, its the end of an era. Their old house now sits empty, its new owners never being able to fill it up quite like its last ones.