Jackson the Hero

Last night, our elderly neighbor Alan called the house because he had fallen and hit his head. Ro and I weren't home because we went to a fundraiser with Santoscoys. Jackson handled it well. He went over, helped calm Alan down and called 911. EMS came about 20 minutes later and took Alan to the hospital. Jackson said there was a lot of blood. I'm very proud of my lad.

Alan is a guy who has had a really tough "golden years." In his younger days, he and his partner Joe, were big supporters over at the Belle Isle Conservatory. They used to run the neighborhood garden club and grew hundreds of hostas in their backyard. Everybody knew and loved them.

Well, Joe passed and Alan was pretty lonely. He let a child predator move in. The guy talked Alan into a second mortgage to fix up the house and then quickly took off with most of the money. A second dude, Douglas, moved in. He had a crack habit and started stripping metal from empty (and not so empty) houses. Now, Douglas is in jail for breaking and entering. Needless to say, all the neighbors have had enough of Alan and his friends.

Ironically, Jackson and I went over to help Alan with his trash can Wednesday night and we had a really nice chat with him. His house has finally sold and he's moving into a flat in Grosse Pointe in two weeks. It was like talking to the old Alan we loved. He was optimistic and focused. Sure hope this spill doesn't set him back.