November 16, 2017. Madison, Mississippi. Mr.&Mrs.St.Denis.

The Mr. and Mrs. St. Denis lived next door to us in Vancouver.   They were splendid neighbors.  He was a Presbyterian minister and my Mother and Mr. St.Denis sparred often concerning beliefs.   The Presbyterians had different ideas from the Salvation Army so their discussions were always lively.  I don't know if the organization still keeps this idea but one item was the prohibition of women preaching in the Presbyterian church,  where as the Salvation Army was way ahead of the curve.  My Mother was a better preacher than my Father, according to my Father.   Another bone of contention was predestination.   They discussed.  They never argued.

They kept a key to our house.  Many times after walking home from school I would realize that I had forgotten my key.  I also always needed to go to the bathroom.  I would knock on their back door.  When the door was opened, I would burst into their home and run directly to their bathroom.  Then I would get the key.  It became a joke, whenever I knocked on their door even if I was there to borrow a cup of flour.

One afternoon, Mother and I were having tea with them, along with a parishioner.   She wanted to tell Mr. St. Denis about another member of the church who was not doing well.   She described the lady and said she had a lump on her neck, which she showed with her hand.  "This poor lady has a concubine on her neck", is what she said.  No one smiled or said not a word, but finally,  my Mother agreed with her that having a concubine on the ladies neck would certainly not be good.   Everyone at the table behaved themselves until the lady left.   We have joked about it ever since.

Mr. and Mrs. St. Denis had no children of their own and always enjoyed our family.  They remain vivid in my mind, even though we moved in 1953.  We loved them and they loved us.   Good neighbors indeed.