Sometimes I’m amazed at the niceness of people.

Allen is someone who defines the word “nice.”

Unfortunately, Esther, his next door neighbor, never gave him a chance. She couldn’t possibly take offense at anything about him because she didn’t know him at all.

But she made her displeasure known.

Maybe she dislikes “newcomers.” I don’t know. I do know I was appalled at how she treated him.

When he knocked on her door to introduce himself as her new neighbor, Esther countered with,“ You just got here and you’re bothering me already.”

She also told him he was ruining her view by parking his boat “where she had to look at it.”

Allen didn’t tell me all this. Esther did.

I told her I thought it was a pleasant sight to see all the boats on the canal. That’s why people buy a home on the water - so they can have their boat right there.

A short while later Allen came to her door again. He told her he made arrangements to keep his boat at a nearby marina. But they were doing some needed work on his dock and he needed to move his boat right away.

Esther didn’t have a boat but she did have a nice boatlift she never used.

Allen asked if he could use her boatlift for a day, explaining the situation.

She agreed he could, but she firmly added, “Just don’t think you can do it again.”

I had forgotten about that unfriendly exchange until Esther passed out and needed to go to the hospital.

When Allen saw the ambulance he went over to see if he could help. He didn’t know what was wrong with her but he did know he didn’t want the elderly woman to be alone.

He and his wife followed the ambulance so Esther would have someone there with her.

It was a small stroke so she would be OK. But it would be hard to get around for a while.

When Esther came home Allen had organized a neighborhood care committee. He asked neighbors to each take one day to bring Esther food and make sure she was all right.

He and his wife stocked her refrigerator and arranged a bouquet of flower to welcome her home.

I told Allen I was impressed with all he was doing for Esther, especially after the way she treated him.

“That’s what neighbors do,” Allen said. “We help each other. Esther doesn’t have anyone. We need to help,” he said.

When it was my turn to take her dinner, Esther said she lived there for 25 years and no one ever did anything for her. “All of a sudden neighbors keep bringing me food,” she said.

I told her it was thanks to Allen who organized it all.

Sometimes just one new family can uplift a neighborhood.

Sometimes niceness wins.

Sometimes it wins over adversity. And sometimes it has a surprising effect.

That was the case with a couple I just saw at a reunion meeting.

I last saw them 10 years ago. Their unusual living arrangement was hard to forget.

They fought like cats and dogs and said their fights were so vicious they were afraid they would kill each other.

They were getting a divorce but neither one wanted to leave their home. They settled the problem by moving a mobile home in their backyard. It was his place of peace and rest, he said.

They eventually sold the home and went their separate ways.

Years later Kathy heard her ex-husband was in the hospital with an inoperable brain tumor.

As a former nurse she was appalled at what she found when she went to visit him. She told him the small town hospital wasn’t serving his needs. She offered to drive him to a top-rated cancer center a few hours away.

She did exactly that and stayed with him through his surgery and recovery.

“She saved my life,” Richard tells everyone. “I owe my life to her and I will never forget what she did for me,” he said.

It’s a story with a happily-ever-after ending. They got remarried and are enjoying life together.

Those two stories had a positive effect only because some chose to do good instead of “getting even,” so to speak.

Allen could have chosen to remember how rudely he was treated. He could have ignored his neighbor in need.

Kathy could have continued the hard feelings toward her husband instead of going to help him.

Instead, both took the high road.

There’s a story playing out on the international scene where I’m hoping all involved take the high road.

I’m referring to the sad situation regarding Prince Harry and his royal family.

The day after Harry’s tell-all book came out King Charles took away the home Harry and Megan were given as a wedding present by Queen Elizabeth.

Some cheered that action and hoped King Charles wouldn’t invite his son and his wife to his coronation.

Thankfully, the king took the high road.

There is so much hurt within that relationship. They all need some sort of healing, not more hurt.

Maybe Harry wrote “Spare” as his own healing. Did he know it would make things worse, not better?

I’m doubtful it will happen but I’m wishing a happily ever ending is in his future.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net