Last night I found out that my neighbour's wife died at the end of August.Even though in the (almost) five years I have lived here, I only know my neighbours ever so slightly due to the occasional chat over the back fence, or in the front yard, my stomach dropped to my toes when he told me.I knew she was sick. For a little while there was a warning in the window nextdoor that oxygen was in use. My neighbour would smoke outside, rather than indoors and at one point over the summer, I heard him telling the neighbours on the other side of his fence (two doors down from me) that his wife had cancer and was in a half-way house sort of deal for the treatments.I thought she was still there.It all started when I was sitting outside on the stoop with the dogs waiting for Shawn's bus to come down the street. My neighbour was outside, smoking, and he said "I have an odd question, is it recycling this week?" I thought about it and replied "No, it's mortgage this week." (My mortgage payments are on opposite Fridays to recycling, it makes it easy to figure out.) We both laughed. Then he said "I've been a little mixed up with days. I don't know if you know, but my wife passed away in August."Stomach dropped."No. My go-- no. I didn't. I'm so sorry."He shrugged and said, it's ok, I'm doing ok.I said, "I knew she was sick, I heard you telling the people on the other side, this summer. I thought she was still in the hospital."He then went on to tell me that on May 31st she was diagnosed with lung cancer. It then spread to her liver, then bones, finally her brain. From the diagnosis at 9am on May 31st until her death at 8am on August 31st, it went fast.She apparently had it for years and didn't know. She got a little sick in May and it was a shock to find out what was wrong.I knew something was up. Not just because of the horrible coughing I could hear in the house over the spring, and not only because of the sign in the window. My neighbour plays his electric guitar for fun and relaxation. He's pretty good. But he'd been playing it more and more, and it's louder and louder. I even heard it around 4 in the morning on night. That's when I knew whatever was going on wasn't good. I had no idea that his wife had already passed away.Two weeks ago, my neighbour dismantled the porch swing he had in the backyard. It went in the garbage with some other patio chairs. I remember saying to Shawn that I think that meant bad news. They never take it down in the winter, just cover it with a tarp. His bringing the parts to the front for garbage pick up brought tears to my eyes and I felt my pulse race with worry.When he told me that he'd lost his wife, less than 2 months ago, I couldn't hold back the tears as we chatted.I don't know them well at all. I know they have two boys, I don't think either are 30 yet. This is not an old couple. Maybe late 50s? The wife wasn't that old. For cancer to strike and act so swiftly, it's just, heartbreaking and terrifying all at once. She was nice. Very shy and nervous about her English, so she wouldn't say much when her husband would speak with me in English. I'd make sure to speak French with her, because she even let me know she was too shy to try English because it wasn't good.We have had them take in our mail for us while we've been at Disney World. We talk about the random deaths of my stupid tree in the front yard and I found out that this is a regular occurrence. Even the ice storm didn't kill it. It's been dying in the middle of summer for years. We'd talk about all the dandelions in the yard. The swampy backyards. The skunks that live under sheds. We'd curse the amount of snow we'd get, or the lack of snow.These are people I only know peripherally, because they share a wall with my house. But the thought of her being ill and now knowing she's passed away, just hit me so hard. These are such wonderful people. The man next door is so friendly and fun to talk with. I hurt for him.She apparently had no pain. The cancer didn't kill her, she just faded away. She was ready to go. She'd lost her appetite, even when he'd leave work and pick up her favourite pizza. She wasn't on much morphine, she was just tired.When Shawn and I finally came in, he hugged me. I was crying. I said "I don't like when people die." Sort of a silly thing to say, because, duh! But it was the only way I could voice my grief over a life that I didn't really know, but missed.Over the summer when my neighbour was telling the neighbours who share his other wall what was going on, I heard him say "I promised that I wouldn't smoke in the house anymore, and even though she's not home yet, I am keeping that promise."He's still smoking outside to this day.