4 1/2 years ago, in need of urgent relocation due to a questionable situation with a former co-worker, we moved to Begonia Blvd in Fairfield. It was cheap and something I felt would be short term; I thought work would either improve or end and I'd have an opportunity or be forced to adjust. Neither came to pass quickly enough.
Begonia... sucked. Sure, there were some good times. I met some great neighbors. I rescued and nursed two day old kittens (and later rescued Mom).
But the hits... just kept on coming.
Shortly after moving in, I was stricken with a serious neck injury. It resulted in a multi level cervical spine fusion, and continues to define my life years later. I live in near constant pain. I never know when I get up in the morning how I'll feel. It sucks.
Shortly after surgery for that, a close friend and his wife got a divorce over infidelity. He was the anchor of our post-Marcus racing efforts and that... basically put an end to Racing for me. Getting back to the track was a real motivator for me healing from surgery. They were an inspiration.
Having barely recovered from that, we abruptly lost my dad to brain cancer. That... we were not ready for.
Four months later, we had probably the defining Begonia event... the shooting on Orchid which resulted in a 15 year old kid bleeding through my yard with his sawed off shotgun, then trying to get in my garage. I'll never forget looking out the window and seeing him walking through my hard. Nor having the police knock on my door at 1:15am and tell me my yard is clear but I can't go outside because its a crime scene. Nor having to clean up the blood...
That summer, my house was part of an evacuation zone due to a brush fire that burned half a dozen homes at the end of the street, caused by a discarded cigarette from a passing car. I was stuck at work, unable to get home and rescue the cats.
... later that fall my 18 year old cat died of heart failure. That really hurt, on top of losing dad.
And at the end of that year, I decided to leave the company I'd been with for 12+ years. I had high hopes of it, being we were all friends - but it had become ground hog day for me, and I needed a change.
Mixed into all that were guys in the yard periodically, people trying to break into the car, punched out screens, picked locks, other shootings all round the neighborhood as well as violent home invasions and a drug lab explosion.
I will miss the stray cats I was feeding (including my kitten's father). I'll miss my old neighbors. I'll miss the rose bushes and the peach trees. I'll miss the cheap rent. I won't miss the rest of it.
Hasta luego, Begonia.
