A Lakewood resident received the following letter in her mail box and asked us to share the original letter and her response. This is the only way Ms. Poso knows to respond to the letter writer.
Ms. Poso,
Nyanza Park used to be a really nice area. Most of it still is. Unfortunately, the entrance to the area has been spoiled by your unsightly year. That was a very nice house and now it looks like a dump.
Please clean up your yard and do some maintenance work on the house. It will be appreciated by all the people who have to pass here every day.
Thank you,
A Concerned Neighbor
Ms. Poso responds to the unsigned letter with the following:
Dear “Concerned Neighbor” who wrote an anonymous letter about my home and yard.
Your letter was hurtful since you apparently care only about the appearance of a yard and not the health and welfare of the occupants. As someone who apparently “have to pass here every day,” have you not wondered why the woman who used to be in the yard every day isn’t out as much?
You called our yard an “unsightly… dump” and said I needed to do ”maintenance work” on the house. Unfortunately, you did not say why it looks like a dump or what maintenance is needed. You also did not mention the hard work put into the yard until a change in health a couple years ago. You also failed to either notice and/or mention the recent improvements which included new plantings last summer and repairing and finishing the privacy fence last month.
So without offering personal information and or excuses why things are they way are, please be patient. As time, health, and money allows, the yard and house are a work in progress. It is slowly, but surely improving.