Good neighbors and broken hearts

Madeline, Kelsey, Darin, Abram and Sarah McFarland.

These are the best neighbors anyone could have, my friends Sarah and Darin.

They moved into this neighborhood not long after my parents did, but I can't recall if Kelsey was a newborn, or hadn't yet been born. Madeline and Abram came along later.

Darin and my dad became best friends, even though more than 50 years separated them, and Darin watched out for him during those final years as he approached 90 and was living here alone during the week.

Sarah was a talented nurse, skilled manager and loving spouse, mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend.

She returned home from a night nursing shift at the care center where she worked early on Christmas Eve, went to bed and died in her sleep.

Many hearts were broken.