Elderly Neighbor Sends Bizarre Note to Family Following Mom's Death

A man from Buffalo, New York, took to social media to share the unusual note an elderly neighbor sent to his family following the death of his mother five years ago.

Posting to Reddit under the handle Harrington3927, the man, who asked only to be referred to as James, recalled how the family received the note as part of a sympathy card following his mom's death.

Written in perfectly rendered cursive, the note reads:

Grief affects people in different ways, but studies have consistently shown the first six months following a bereavement to be among the most difficult.

According to a 2008 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, grief symptoms tend to peak around four to six months after the initial loss but can linger for up to two years.

James has nothing but fond memories of his mom. "She was a wonderful woman who raised three boys and took care of everything we needed," he told Newsweek. "I retired at 49 to take care of them so they could stay in the home they had built 70 years ago for $12,000."

James lived about 20 minutes from his elderly parents and saw them every day for 13 years. His mom was 94 when she died. His dad died earlier this year, aged 97.

He rediscovered the note while recently cleaning through some things at his late father's house. Despite the callous nature of the note, James said it wasn't out of character for "E" to have disputes over things like garbage collections.

"It really didn't surprise us at all based on things she would do and say during the last 50 years or so," he said. "She was an elderly lady, never married, no family. She used to say stuff to all the neighbors about silly things."

James recalled: "She tried to take someone to court for driving on the edge of her lawn by accident when they were pulling in and out of their driveway on the other side of her."

He nevertheless shared it on social media because it was a surprising reaction, recalling the shock "that someone would send a sympathy card saying how sorry she was to hear of my mom's passing and then write that note on the blank side of the card."

Despite this, he insists the family took the note well at the time. "We were all grieving and when we read it we actually all started laughing," James said. "It was more funny than anything. We kidded about it with my dad for five years up until his passing."

James said up until then, they rarely conversed with "E" and it was never mentioned again. "I actually felt bad for her," he said. "I helped her with a few things after that. She never said anything more about it and I never confronted her about the note."

According to the poster, the elderly neighbor died last year. "They found her dead in her basement from a medical event," he said. "They estimated she was dead for a week or so before anyone noticed. No family at all."

Regardless of the note, there's little in the way of bad feeling though, with James preferring to focus on his parents and the positive legacy they left behind.

It's certainly not the first time a note from a neighbor has sparked anger on social media. One homeowner was left horrified after receiving a note criticizing their "trashy" front yard. Elsewhere, a new tenant reacted in stunned fashion after finding a letter slamming their use of power tools around the house.

Not all notes are bad though. A group of kids in Texas were hailed after sending a new family a note warning them off letting their son play with a "strange man."

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