I never know how to deal with things like this, hence the rambly title

Last night, my old house was on the news.

Tangentally.

Across the road from us lived an older couple; he was retired and not in the best of health, but he - let's call him Fred - had an interest in reading and was generally a very genial man. My soon-to-be- Ex and I had dinner with them, chatted often. Fred's wife is a nurse, so we never saw much of her.

Last night, their house burned down. Fred was inside it at the time.

The house is just gone and the local news said that the Fire Department were suspicious about the cause of the blaze, the severity of it.

Fred, and I've changed his name because no one who reads this could possibly know him and I don't want the family to find this on Google somewhere, was a nice guy. He read a lot, he chatted endlessly but well, he had a lot to share. He was a good neighbor. I have missed him, in small ways, since I moved out.

My thoughts are, of course, with his wife; she has lost more than I can comprehend and I wish there was something I could do, something meaningful, that would help. Blogging seems so empty and futile, but, I think it needs saying: he was a good man, a good neighbor and I shall miss him.