Jimmy

     My roommate is very close to our next door neighbor. Their boy graduated from high school in May, so my roommate gave him a graduation gift, which was also a farewell gift because he is soon going to a university in Virginia.
     Several days later, my roommate said to me, “Jimmy didn't send me a thank-you card.” For that I replied, “Give him couple more days. Maybe he is busy or something.” “But his sister sent me a thank-you card right away,” he complained. Well, he was referring to the boy's older sister who graduated from high school and went to college two years ago; she received a gift from my roommate too.
     A week or so later, my roommate complained again. This time, I couldn't say the boy was busy, so I said, “well, boys to be boys!” (Yeah, like that's an excuse.) Several days later, he nagged again. What did I say this time? Nothing. This was back in June.
     Last night when I came home and checked our mail box, I found a small envelope addressed to my roommate. The return address was our next door neighbor's. I had a hunch that it must be from the boy, even though it was late July already. This morning, I saw an opened greeting card sitting on the counter neatly. The front was a big printed “Jimmy”. The inside:

Dear XX,

Thank you so much for the xxx gift certificate. I really appreciate it. You have been the best neighbor I have ever had as I really appreciate everything you've done for us. It will be a great loss when you sell your house.

Jimmy

He knew my roommate was selling the house.

His father passed away four years ago.