And near the walkway, I had them plant two Japanese maples.
They were Jerry’s favorites.
By the time they finished, the yard didn’t feel like the same place anymore.
It looked… finished.
The way my husband always pictured it.
I stood at the edge of the sidewalk that evening, staring at it, and for the first time in months, something inside me felt steady.
Like I’d done one thing right.
Then, a few days later, I had to leave for three days to meet and spend quality time with my daughter and new grandson.
Sarah, my daughter, had just had her first baby, Jerry Jr., and for those few days, I let myself step away from everything else.
I held him, watched him sleep, and listened to the small sounds newborns make.
And for a little while, the world felt softer.
During that time, I didn’t think about the house or the yard.
I was in absolute bliss!
I came back on Sunday night.
The street was quiet when I pulled into my driveway and turned off the engine, but something felt off before I even stepped out of the car.
I couldn’t explain it.
Then I opened the door.
And I saw it.
There were massive trenches cutting through the lawn.
Three feet deep.
Mud everywhere.
The sod was ripped up and thrown aside.
The irrigation system was destroyed.
I just stood there, frozen, trying to process what I was looking at.
It didn’t make sense.
None of it did.
Just three days ago, it had been perfect.
Now it looked as if someone had taken it apart without a second thought.
At one point, I even stepped back to make sure I was at the right house. Unfortunately, I was.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
My neighbor, Kimberly, must’ve heard my car because she walked over.
Before I even had a chance to ask her if she saw what happened, she cleared everything up for me in three sentences.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I was installing a private internet line.
The old owner said I could run it through here.”
I turned slowly.
She stood there as if she were explaining something routine.
Like this was normal.
“The old owner lived here three years ago,” I whispered.
She shrugged.
“I’ll cover it back up later. It’s not a big deal.”
Not a big deal.
I looked back at the yard.
At what used to be my husband’s last dream, the one thing he’d ever wanted.
I didn’t yell, argue, or even ask questions.
Because I already knew how it would go.
I didn’t have the money to fix it again.
Or the energy to fight her while getting pulled into something I couldn’t control. I also knew that the chances of her fixing what she broke were slim, seeing as she’d ignored me, the actual owner, and chosen to speak to the previous one.
So I just stood there.
For a moment…
I thought Kimberly had won.
