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No More Green Bananas
We moved into our current house in Dec 1997. It was a new house, in a new neighborhood. All of our neighbors were also new to the development. One weekend in Jan ’98 we had a house warming party and invited all of our new neighbors. We hit it off with all of them, especially Jim and Teresa who live across the street. Jim, a gynecologist, had just retired from his Boca Raton practice and was in the process of relocating to Amelia Island. He and Teresa came from humble (poor) backgrounds, were high school sweat hearts, and were married while Jim was attending medical school.
Like us, Jim and Teresa have traveled extensively and have a diverse group of interesting friends. We are also close in age and share similar interests. Jim like me had also served in the military. Over the years, our friendship has grown closer and stronger. We can discuss our mutual experiences without coming off as braggarts or appearing to engage in one-upmanship. After I retired and following my post 9/11 mobilization, Jim and Teresa talked me into joining the same fitness center they attend. Bottom line, we see a lot of one another.
After retiring and relocating here, both Jim and Teresa have been very active in the community and have volunteered their services towards many worthy causes. Through the County, Jim provides free medical care to those who need it and can’t afford it. As a team, they both are Red Cross volunteers and have been deployed to many natural disasters and more local house fires than I can count. Most of those house fires were late night or early morning incidents. In the neighborhood, Jim gave daily ejections to another neighbor who required them relative to her Invitro pregnancy. He has also come to our rescue when some of our foreign relatives have visited and either ran out of or forgot their prescription medications.
When they are out of town, we watch their house and pick up their mail and newspapers. They do the same for us. During our recent cross-country road trip, they had both a key to our house and one of our garage door openers. It was them we called when, while on the road, we decided to put our house on the market. We told them why and where it was we intend on relocating. They honored are request not discuss the topic with other neighbors, many of whom have a tendency to engage in wild flung gossip. They also kept an eye out for our daughter who knew she could go to them in time of need. And on one occasion she required some medical advise from Jim.
Jim and Teresa are the type of neighbors that give you your space. After returning home in mid-June before coming over to ask about our trip, they gave us time to get our rig cleaned up and stored and to give the outside of our house a dose of curb appeal.
After getting back in front of our power curve, Teresa stopped by one morning to chat with Doris. Doris invited them over that afternoon to share some of the wine we had bought in the Napa Valley. Teresa was grateful for the invitation and told Doris it was probably something Jim really needed. She then went on to tell Doris that just days prior Jim had been diagnosed with cancer tumors that had metastized throughout his body and that he was given 3 to 6 months to live. Stating that we were among the first to know and that they hadn’t even told their 2 sons, Teresa asked us keep the news a secret.
That afternoon over wine and appetizers, Jim told us very matter of factly that his was a terminal case and that he was given 3 to 6 months to live. Citing concerns they might make him sicker than help, Jim told us he wasn’t sure he would even undergo any chemo treatments. He summed up his condition by saying he was no longer buying any green bananas. After a couple of glasses of wine, he was tired and needed to head back home. Doris and I both sensed he was over doctoring his condition and had given up hope leading him to reject any treatment. It was obvious that his fatalistic attitude was taking a toll on Teresa.
Since that evening, Jim and Teresa have been over to the house several times for late afternoon dips in the pool and margaritas. Much to Teresa’s relief, Jim’s attitude has improved and today he underwent his first chemo treatment.
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