New, improved, revised and condensed:

�Julie,

I am writing this to you in an attempt to communicate my side of the situation in this neighborhood with you. Although what I believe to have been 90% of the �problem� in this neighborhood just moved out, you and I remain here and I�d like you to know my side of the story from myself and not through rumors and speculation. I�d like to believe that had we met face to face from the beginning, none of this would have happened.

I have to say, I was a bit surprised to see your �Thumbs� in the HLN the other day after you�d already talked to my step-son Brent the last time they rode the snowmobile down there and you told him it was �okay� for them to ride, just to watch out for the kids.

For the record, my �Thumbs� were not directed at you. The first one, most certainly, was directed at an inclination around here of calling the police without first making a simple, polite request to the neighbors involved. And I knew that it wasn�t you who called that day.

And, honestly? I did not know that the children playing in the road were a concern to you down there until I got a call from Pater a few days later. Had it been brought to my attention, I would have taken care of the �problem�. Seeing as the Awalts kids had rides on the snowmobile a few times, I was not aware that there was a problem.

Now, as far as �acting like adults�. Your call last spring came after over a year of Brendan being yelled at repeatedly by you and then pulled in the other direction with requests to be friends. (One example was a conversation that took place last spring, after my landlord Gary had left notes in everyone�s mailboxes, kindly asking that they be brought up to our houses. Brendan told me that you brought up the subject with him, even though he did not write the notes. He had no part in that, and the subject should not have been discussed with him. I mean, was it his fault that the folks who used to live on the other side of us brought your barrels up to their house?) By that time, I was in no mood to be reasoned with about this situation and the call came too late. If he had been THAT much of a problem in the preceding year, it wasn�t brought to my attention.

To address the issue of �foul language�, this is a matter that none of us is innocent of, so let�s get that right out of the way. This includes children in this neighborhood, most notably those that just left. I�ve heard �vulgarity� from all of them, and the parents, too.

Regarding the incident last spring when Brendan called you a �name you can�t mention�, for your information, I did reprimand him for that. It is also my understanding that he apologized to you for it, and it hasn�t happened again. It�s �water under the bridge� and needs to be let go of and forgotten.

As far as what he said to Karl a few weeks ago, sorry, but I can�t blame him for it. It was NOT okay for Karl to scream in his face like a raging crackhead. He had no right to do that at all. You�ll have your own teenager soon, and then maybe you�ll change how you feel about that.

It seems that �aggravating the neighbors� is a big problem in this neighborhood, and I�ve had more than my share of children aggravating me, too. Children that are allowed to roam the neighborhood unattended for long periods of time. And seeing as I spend a lot of time outside, I�ve had a lot of it firsthand.

If I find a child in my yard who cannot behave, who harasses the other children, hits them or calls them names, or they are destructive, I ask them to leave. I have no obligation or responsibility to these kids and I have enough on my plate to put up with, so I choose not to bother with them.

Have I asked Matthew to leave my yard? Yes, several times in the spring of 2004. I can�t remember how old he was then, but it was much older than my own �small children� , who were 3 and 5 at the time. Matthew�s visits to my yard found him picking on my kids, calling names, etc, and I asked him to leave. Did I �permanently banish� him from my yard, as I�ve been asked about since? No, I did not. I can only assume that that speculation came through the kids, because I never made such an order.

As far as my being a �problem� in the neighborhood, well, that certainly is a surprise to me, seeing as I spend most of my time up here on my hill. Also, the people around here who know me, who are friendly with me, have no problem with me. If the Awalts thought I�m a problem, well, that�s just funny to me. I mean, what was their problem? I didn�t like Karl screaming in Brendan�s face? We had Brandon sleep over all those weekends? I put up with a ton of crap from their two younger kids for two years?

Regarding your �Thumbs�. I�d like to address a few points:

The police �know how� my son is? Really? Is that based solely upon your information to them? Because he hasn�t had any run-ins with the police whatsoever. As a matter of fact, Officer Pucillo was unfamiliar with him otherwise, as I found out last week when he paid a visit to us to clear up the situation last Tuesday.

I have taught Brendan to respect adults. He has a great deal of respect for those who treat him with it. I don�t believe it�s an automatic given that everyone deserves respect and I try to divert his attention away from blatant disrespect in these cases.

�Tearing up the lawn� is a gross exaggeration, wouldn�t you say? (Actually, in this case, I can�t remember if that was your�s or the Awalts, and I don�t have the paper in front of me)

I also pay good money to live here. Am I to assume that your money is better than mine?

Brendan is picking on the younger children? Really? These are the same kids that come up here looking for him all the time? I have younger children, too, and they�ve been picked on plenty by kids in this neighborhood who are bigger than them. Like I stated before, aggravating the neighbors has been a big problem in this neighborhood, and it isn�t only happening down at your end of the road.

I thank you for taking the time to read this. I welcome your response, but understand if you choose not to.�

So nah.

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