They were already in residence on the street when we first moved to our new home. Our was the last house to be built on the street, fully two years after the other houses had been constructed and sold. So when we moved into the house we had just bought, we introduced ourselves to our new next-door neighbours. A fairly young couple in their late-30s lived directly to our right. They had a young baby, only a few months old. That baby is now an adult of 23 years of age, and her brother born a few years later is now 20.

I can recall how amusing I thought it was when the children were toddlers and I could hear their father on occasion shout for his wife, that he could smell that the children had soiled their diapers and a change was required. He did nothing whatever in helping to care for their children, and not much more in the care and upkeep of normal everyday things around the house, either. In a sense she was kind of privileged that he earned enough on his own as an IT specialist to allow her to remain a stay-at-home mother, living in a fair degree of comfort on a middle-class street, close to good schools and many green spaces whose park-like areas held play structures for neighbourhood children.

That was then. Back then, we were helping to raise our granddaughter, born several years after our neighbours' youngest son. Our grandchild found some friends on the street, but the two living right next to us were not among them. Despite which, the mother of the two children has always been a good neighbour and our friendship with her has lacked nothing. She is one of those outgoing people who likes other people and enjoys being in the company of others. Her smile is one of high wattage, her personality warm and generous.

She had married at a time when she wondered whether she ever would, she told me once. Because she and her husband married relatively late in life each had  amassed savings enabling them to buy a good house in a good neighbourhood where they found themselves lacking nothing of value. As far as durable goods is concerned, that is. Her husband, while a fundamentally decent person, is afflicted as a true social introvert; he will go to any lengths to avoid personal contact with anyone, however slight that might be. A simple, brief greeting like 'hello' seems beyond his capabilities.

But his wife, over the years, has made friends, been socially active, has gone wherever it pleased her to with the use of the family vehicle -- although not too far afield, since he forbade that, just as he forbade her from venturing out into the ravine for walks in nature because of the potential some harm might lurk within and deprive him of her services.

He is now retired. For the past year he has set himself up as a virtual hermit. He takes a daily stroll around the block, assiduously avoiding neighbours to the point of crossing the street should one be approaching. I have personally had no reason to criticize him; his privacy and solitude are vital to his well-being, and so be it. He has always been courteous with me, and responsive when I've gone my rounds over the years, inviting charitable donations on behalf of various charitable organizations.

It is now rare to see his bubbly, vivacious wife out and about. The person we once spoke with fairly regularly who always spoke optimistically about everything and anything, her smile lighting up the great outdoors in competition with the sun, appears to have become a recluse. He is displeased if she ventures outside the house while he is home, and now, he is always home. On occasion she will be seen accompanying him on one of his daily walks. How sad life can be for some people whose characters seem so ill-suited to one another.

Yet, who are we to judge? Even as she would occasionally comment to one or another of the neighbours with whom she had a personal relationship of friendship how constricting her husband could be over not permitting her to use the Internet, not allowing her the use of a credit card for fear of malefactors lingering in the background, prepared to pounce at the opportunity to abduct someone's 'identity', she would also claim him to be her 'best friend'.

What wrong could there be in binding ever more tightly with one's best friend?