Neighbor Nostalgia

I don't always love my neighbor. Sometimes she plays Justin Timberlake & soundalikes all day, really loud. Sometimes she has loud parties. By her own admission, she can be a little wild.

We've always been friendly, though, and said "hi" when we pass each other on the street, etc.

Last night, I was working on a project and I could hear her music perfectly well through my wall. She had turned on Frank Sinatra's Christmas album and listened to the whole thing. It was the first time I haven't wanted to tear my hair out at her music choice. Actually, for a little while, it made me smile, but it also made me feel a little bit like I was invading--like I was listening to her memories, peering into her mind, being her Ghost of Christmas Past.

I would not have expected her to be so sentimental in her music choice, from the very little I know of her. (We have had perhaps two or three conversations longer than a minute.) But, as I got her secondhand sentimental Sinatra floating through the walls, I felt a Christmas connection with her. Frank Sinatra would not be my sentimental album of choice for the holiday season, but I appreciated that she was celebrating Christmas, and that she is sentimental, just like me.

Maybe today I'll play Mannheim Steamroller really loud and she will get some neighbor nostalgia back. ;)