How well do you know your neighbors? I barely know mine. We say hello in the stairwell sometimes, but otherwise I know almost nothing about the people I share a building with.
39-year-old Lucy Ashen has lived in Fulham, England her whole life. She loves the area she lives in. She has a neighbor she calls “My Lady”. The two have lived in the same building for 21 years.
”My Lady” has always called Lucy “Lucy Locket”, and although they would always greet each other, they didn’t really know anything about each other.
Lucy knew that ”My Lady” had suffered from mental health problems, however she had always believed that she had a pretty nice life. She never complained about anything.
One day, Lucy was finally able to get a glimpse into ”My Lady’s” life, and what she saw left a lump in her throat.
It was complete misery. She’d had no idea how her neighbor had been living for all these years.
The woman lived in a state of neglect that is hard to put into words.
The furniture was bare and full of holes.
The floors and walls were covered with dirt and holes.
Her clothes were shabby.
There was also no food in the fridge.
The woman had not taken a shower for 13 years and slept on a dirty mattress on the floor.
So nobody deserves to live like this – and Lucy knew immediately that she had to intervene.
With the help of her 14 year old daughter, Lucy got to work.
They threw out all the furniture and cleaned for a total of 60 hours to get the apartment in an acceptable condition.
Then Lucy turned to Facebook, where she explained the situation and wrote a list of what was needed.
”I could not have dreamt what would happen next! The response has been overwhelming!” Lucy writes on Facebook.
People offered to help, they donated every possible item “MyLady” could need from food to furniture – and within a day 80 percent of the list had been donated!
Thanks to the kindness and generosity of strangers, everything changed for “MyLady”.
In no time at all she had a bed to sleep in, clean sheets, nice furniture, new clothes and a well stocked fridge.
But most importantly, she had a friend.
“She truly has been saved from a lonely and degrading life, she has been given her dignity back and I intend for her to live out the rest of her life in comfort and surrounded by love,” Lucy writes.
Juat think about how little we know about the people around us.
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