We had one of those neighbors once, who would brag about brandishing a shotgun at cars that would drive too fast through our neighborhood.
His geriatric dog would poop in our yard and he would feign innocence.
There was an everpresent light in his garage, and I tried not to dwell on the possibilities.
He came off as a bit of a chauvanist, but I never felt disrespected by him. On the contrary, he always had a kind word for me - usually regarding my looks - but kind nonetheless.
We discovered he could see inside our living room after he commented on an empty beer can pyramid building activity during an evening with friends - which he did not attend. So, we bought blinds. And I made sure to be fully dressed wandering around my house.
Despite his oddities, I felt safe with him protecting the neighborhood, as he was a stay at home dad to his two sweet daughters, his career wife commuting to Microsoft everyday.
I saw his true colors during an interaction with him while I was pregnant. His question was benign enough, 'How are you?' For some reason, all my walls came down, and tears unexpectedly rained from my eyes.
I told him how very scared I was - scared that my babies would be premature, scared of the birth, scared of being a mom, and petrified that there would be two babies to care for.
He said something to me that I will never forget.
He said that men believe they can move the moon and the stars, but women create life in their womb, and that is more precious than any physical strength.
How can you argue with that?
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