Hard to believe that Mary's passed on. Last I saw of her was when the ambulance picked her up last week during the dawn hours. Wish I'd had a chance to say good-bye.
Mary and I had a cantankerous relationship but I learned a lot from her: lots of how-tos for repairs around the house and scads of tales about old South Baltimore. We had our ups and downs, disagreed on almost everything, but musta been somethin' there 'cuz we kept it up for years. I'm not the only one who'll miss her: when Mary sat out on her stoop, people just seemed to be drawn to her. They'd stop to grouse about the way things used to be compared to now, they'd talk about how to do a good roofing job, the ins and outs of a good family, how to fix an air conditioner. I hardly recall any subject Mary hadn't thought about, and she passed on what she'd learned to all who'd listen.
Anyway, I'm glad she was in my life. Not many people you can do battle with day in day out and still remain friends. We did, Mary and I, and I'll really miss her.