New Neighbors

About four weeks ago our next-door neighbors of ever since we've lived here, the Tom and Jennifer Hamilton's, up and moved to a smaller home a mile away from here. I say "up and moved" because there had been no "For Sale" sign on their house, no open houses, no nothing that would indicate an imminent relocation. It turns out that Tom's sister-in-law is a real estate broker in town and was able to get buyer and seller together without the usual things that precede such a transaction. So, with help from family and friends and a big U-Haul truck, they packed up in about two days and  .... whooosh!, Tom and Jennifer are are next-door neighbors no more. We will miss them and their boys (who were pre-teens when we moved in twelve years ago). Tom played basketball with his boys in their driveway almost every evening. I can still hear the thump of the ball being dribbled and bounced off the backboard, as well as the sound it made while going through the net. When Jeff was home, he would often join in their play. Tom is our primary care physician, so I will still see him from time to time. Unless he retires, that is. He is my age.

And today our new neighbors moved in. They are Tom (yes, another Tom) and Darin Hiilebrandt from San Diego. Very nice people. They have two darling daughters, Rose (age 9) and Emily (age 7). And they had Dominos Pizza for dinner tonight.  Tom was hired recently as the new chief financial officer of a company headquartered in Goleta named Decker Outdoor Corp. They market serious and casual outdoor footwear. Tom started his accounting career with the same firm I started with, only 21 years later, and in San Diego instead of Los Angeles. The sounds of teenaged driveway basketball has been replaced with the laughter of little girls. We do live in a nice neighborhood.