OTHER FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS
Katie was not alone in the world. Her stepson Larry was an attorney in Houston. He took pretty good care of her. If her house needed repairs, he paid for it. If her washing machine broke, he bought her a new one. When her TV didn’t work, he replaced it. He just took care of the necessities. She liked her house just fine, and she was pretty independent. But she didn’t argue when he gave her something she needed.
I never met Larry, never even saw him. But he came on holidays. I think he used to come for a mid-day dinner, stay the afternoon, and drive back to Houston the same day.
The three college kids next door to us, UT juniors Charlie, Joel and Ricky, made friends with Katie, too, and although they didn’t visit regularly the way I did, they liked to cook, and when they did, they took a plate over to Mrs. Gray.
A well known local musician lived next door to Katie on one side. He and his girlfriend both were also Katie’s friends. On the other side, her neighbor was an even older woman named Carla, or maybe Karla. The two did not like each other much, and carried on miscellaneous fence-line feuds until Carla-Karla moved to a nursing home. We later heard she’d died.
Old Mr. Perez down the street took care of Katie’s lawn for a nominal fee. And when Katie needed a car, she talked to a man she knew who owned a nearby garage. It was one of his mechanics, a good-looking, nice young man, who found her a yellow 1966 Mustang and kept it running like a top. Katie’s car was the envy of the guys in the neighborhood. Next
