The Leonard Guys

Thanks to Adel from John's Dad's office for the photo that so expertly captured the three Leonard guys.

Still John's Town

Recall this earlier post regarding John's Mom's and Dad's taste of being DC residents like John, albeit for only a month.

Well, for almost 2 months now, John's Mom and Dad have become full time DC residents, at least during the work week with weekends still spent in beautiful Southern Maryland.  Having tired of the daily 120 mile round-trip commute, and taking advantage of John's Mom's recent retirement, John's parents have rented a small apartment in the District -- specifically in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. 

Adams Morgan, of course, is where John purchased his one and only home, a condominium on the first floor of an almost 100-year-old apartment building on Belmont Rd. (see photo to left).  John had great plans for his place and really enjoyed living in the District.

So the obvious question is, did John's Mom and Dad choose a place in Adams Morgan just 4 blocks from Belmont Road because of or in spite of the connection to John?  As always, the answer entails a little of both.

First of all, John's parents did not set out looking for a place in Adams Morgan.  It just turned out that the first place they found that piqued their interest was located there.  As such, the question then became whether the fact that the apartment was located in Adams Morgan served to disqualify it from consideration due to its connection to John?

There, of course, were pros and cons both ways.  John's parents have many positive memories of visiting John there -- to include going to many of the diverse eateries in the neighborhood.  At the same time, there are more painful memories as well such as packing up his condominium after his death.  But the bottom line is that many of the same things that attracted John to the neighborhood attracted his parents -- like son, like parent. 

So now when they walk the area, they are struck by the good as well as the bad, usually unexpectedly; such as stumbling upon a small hole in the wall where they shared a meal or similarly stumbling upon the EMT Station from which the ambulance was dispatched to take him to the hospital or the pharmacy where he went after being discharged from the hospital to fill his prescriptions just hours before his death. This is not only John's town, but his neighborhood as well, and that's what is ultimately good about it.