West-Side Character

I have fallen in love with the west-side. By the "west-side", I mean the area we call home located right off of IH-10 and Hildebrand. (I would actually argue that it is not truly the west side. It is the west-side to those of us that have grown up in the northwest suburbs of San Antonio). One block to the east of us is Section 8 housing, a few blocks west of us you will find million dollar homes built in the early 20th century. Our initial plan for finding our first place was to find a home, that we could afford, in a "decent" part of town. Josh and I fell in love with the house the first time we stumbled upon it a few months before we got married. I was not so sure of the neighborhood, although it did not scare or concern me like it did our parents.
Since that time, I have come to love those things that give our neighborhood tons of character. Some friends of ours have joked about making sure their doors are locked and all valuables are out of sight when they park in front of our home, the booming rap music at 10am or 10pm gives them wide eyes, and the fireworks heard on New Year's Eve just may be a drive-by shooting. While I have come accustomed to these things, it is the people that we have met that have made me love this area. If I may introduce one of the characters in our "west-side":

"Angelica". Angelica is more of Nya's friend than Josh's or mine, as we have both regrettably forgotten her name. I call her this because even though we have only shared a few conversations, she is probably the sweetest person I have ever met. Every evening at about 5pm, we can expect Angelica to walk by our back-yard, cane in hand. Walking seems to be a challenge for her, as she is about 150 pounds overweight. But, this does not stop her from her daily walk or from stopping by our backyard to play with Nya. Anyone who has met Nya can attest to her hyper-activeness and excitement around other people. Nya seems to take on a whole new demeanor when Angelica comes around. If our gate is open, Angelica will come in and toss the ball with our dog for a good 15 minutes. If the gate is closed, Nya runs along the fence as Angelica whistles along with her and reaches her hand over to say hello. She is also a grandmother of 2 boys, as she has brought them by to play with Nya.

We have come to love the good with the not-so-good but would not have chosen to live anywhere else, even if we could.