I Secretly Paid My Elderly Neighbor’s Water Bills for 6 Years—Then, After Her Funeral, Her Son Arrived With a Lawyer

life while I witnessed hers.

And perhaps that is what a good neighbor really is.

Not someone who saves you.

Not someone who owns your problems.

Simply someone who notices.

Someone who stays close enough to recognize when your light doesn’t come on in the morning.

Someone who knows when to knock.

And just as importantly —

someone who knows when not to.