Thankful To Have Been Blessed To Know Him

Yesterday, our sweet neighbor Stan passed away.   Over the years he has served us, checked on us, watched us, and a lot of times made us crazy.  Many of days I grumbled and gasped as he & his wife knew our every move.  More recently, I was blessed to really "see him" and see what a kind and thoughtful man he really was.  I am really grateful that the Lord softened my heart and my mind to "see" as the Lord does.  He was a mind of many small deeds that blessed us daily.

Last night Morgan and I were laughing and talking about our Stan memories.  Here are just a few. He always called us if our lights were left on (basement, garage, etc) sometimes in the early early morning (2 am when he saw Morgan getting home from work).  When we forgot he would haul our trash cans to the curb (by 5 pm) he would haul them out and he would always beat me to bring them in.  He would remind me to blow my leaves every year - it was always a battle - I wanted them to stay on the lawn and he hated them.  It we were not fast enough with the snow - he would shovel it for us!  He gave us tips (yes, he always knew what he was talking about) on our garden, flowers, lawn, etc.  When we went out of town he would walk our property to check the house and make sure it was safe, rubber band the mail everyday and write the weather on it.  He and his wife remembered every holiday and would call us - even on Sweetest Day!  He loved to sit outside to hand out apples on Halloween.  He & his wife always shared what they had - candies, apples, graham crackers, soda, etc.  He attended most of our backyard BBQs (especially birthday parties) and all our friends knew him.  The girls will miss him a lot this summer - he would sit out by the fence by our swingset and talk with the girls - they will be lonely.  We did a lot of talking over our fences - it drove me crazy for a lot of years but in the last year or so I again was able to enjoy it so much more.

His favorite holiday was Christmas - we are glad he lived through one more - he would dress as Santa Claus and go to nursing homes to brighten others Christmases.  He was Manhattan & Marin's first Santa or Stanta Claus as we called him.  We knew he was having trouble when he has not felt up to it the last two years.  Here is a picture of him with the girls - even though Hattie knew it was Stan she still stood far away - she was always leery when he was in costume!

Stanley Skowronek leaves behind  his wife, Florence of 48 years and many people who's lives were touched by his kind deeds.  They had no children but loved everyone unconditionally.  We never heard mean words about anyone by Stan.

My friend and I often were reminded of the Savior showing himself in many forms - Stan was one of those forms - some times I was a better receiver than others.  I am so grateful that in the last few years I was able to receive all that he gave! 

We will miss you Stan.