A grand, and not-so-grand, story

Mr. Gadget and I live in a townhouse.  It's part of the first phase of our condo complex.  The second phase--a series of three buildings with single-floor units--is now underway.  The first building is complete and almost 100% occupied and the second one is now under construction.

The builders have named these the Grand Coach homes.  The condo residents just refer to this one as the grand.  There are many single women who live in the grand--some widowed and some divorced. 

During the past year, as the ladies have purchased their units and moved in, friendships have blossomed.  All of them have become fast friends.  Not only that, but they've organized social events and have reached out to those of us in the townhouses and included us in their activities. Whereas there was almost nothing going on when this piece of land was just a muddy field, now there are almost too many things on the calendar.

So here's the grand story.  One of the ladies was diagnosed with cancer not long ago, and her grand neighbors have been taking turns driving her to her daily treatments.  They have a schedule of some kind....probably a spreadsheet (wouldn't Mr. Gadget love that!) so they each know their day to drive.

I thought this was a heartwarming story and worthy of mentioning.  As for the not-so-grand story, there's Mr. Gadget's experience on the condo board.  He's devoted many hours of his time to his job on the executive committee and takes his position seriously. But there are a few residents who do nothing but complain.....month after month after month.  Several are no longer talking to him.  So after the June meeting, he and I will have a special, and much-anticipated, champagne toast at his towel-throwing-in ceremony.