Half Court Healing

Over the past couple of years I've been watching a situation in my neighborhood, simply from a drive by perspective.  And it quite frankly, has been fascinating to watch it unfurl.

It starts out sad.  A couple years ago, an elderly couple that lived about a mile from my house, that I never knew, had a early morning terrible house fire one winter day.  They did not make it out.  The house, that was a nice one, in a desirable area then stood there for a while empty.  It was one of those situations where the house looked abandoned, but you really couldn't tell casually from a drive by, that it was more than likely completely destroyed inside.

Time went by and I always wondered what really happened there, and what was going to happen there.  There was not a time I drove by, I didn't think about these people I didn't know.  Over the months there was little change.  Then one day, I noticed the home was being torn down totally.  Again, this didn't seem surprising  -  on my levels.  Then I noticed the basement had been filled in, and grass had been planted.  That to me was surprising.  A nice piece of land in a nice area, between two other nice houses sitting empty.  The land, quite valuable.

Then, the biggest surprise of all.  The other day,  I noticed right in the middle of this really big empty house lot, was a new basketball hoop, with a mold being prepared for a level concrete half court to be poured.  I was almost stunned, and I smiled.  Full disclosure, I didn't know these people, their family, or anything about this whole thing other than what I just told you.

But I know this. It is incredibly refreshing to see that someone is clearly honoring someone's wishes, or giving a loved one a lasting legacy.  I don't know if this is the family, or the city, or one of their neighbors.  But it's wonderful to see that someone is gentle enough to deem this a worthy idea.

This has taught me that hallowed ground is not strictly limited to the deserved National Monuments that we all know and respect.  But it can be more than powerful, when it's placed in the care and memory of neighborly perished souls who met and end that none of us can imagine.

This moved me.  Well done.