Charlotte never thinks her quiet neighborhood hides secrets. But when she finds out her neighbors have been secretly using her hot tub for a year, she feels shocked and angry. She decides to teach them a lesson they won’t forget. But as she digs deeper, she discovers even more surprising things about the people living next door. What are they hiding?
It was a sunny afternoon, and I was sitting in my backyard, looking at our hot tub.
Tom and I bought our dream house a few years ago, complete with this beautiful backyard and the hot tub.
We were thrilled back then, imagining all the relaxing evenings we would spend soaking in the warm bubbles.
We knew our neighbors but weren’t particularly close. Jim and Lisa lived next door with their teenage children, Emma and Jake. They seemed nice enough, but we never really got to know them well.
Normally, Tom and I would use the hot tub a lot, especially on weekends. But this year, things were different.
I had started a new job that required a lot of travel, and Tom was working extra hours to cover for a coworker who was out on medical leave. It felt like we were always busy, and our hot tub had been neglected for months.
I missed those quiet moments of relaxation we used to have together.
I sighed, feeling a bit nostalgic. We really need to make time for ourselves again, I thought. The hot tub looked lonely, covered, and unused. It was a reminder of how our lives had changed.
I decided to call Tom. “Hey, honey,” I said when he answered, “I was thinking we need to start using the hot tub again. It’s been too long.”
Tom laughed softly. “I agree, Charlotte. Let’s plan for this weekend. We could both use some relaxation.”
I smiled, feeling a bit more hopeful. Maybe things could get back to how they used to be, even if just for a little while.
But before we could enjoy the hot tub again, our neighbor Lisa stopped by one afternoon
“Charlotte, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked, looking a bit uncomfortable
“Sure, Lisa. What’s up?” I replied, curious about what she wanted to say.
“I hate to bring this up, but could you and Tom keep it down in the evenings on the weekends?” Lisa said, glancing at her feet. “There was loud music and shouting coming from your backyard last Sunday as well. Look, I’ve been quiet all this while, but it’s going to be a year now. The noise is really annoying.”
I stared at her, surprised. “But Lisa, Tom and I were out of town on Sunday. We weren’t even here. We’re out almost every weekend.”
One evening, as Tom and I soaked in the hot tub, I looked around our peaceful backyard and smiled. “We did it, Tom,” I said. “We got our home back.”
Tom nodded, holding my hand. “And we strengthened our community in the process. I couldn’t be prouder of us.”
It was a hard lesson in trust and vigilance, but it made us all stronger and more connected. And for that, I was truly grateful.
What would you have done?
Donald Sutherland dead at 88: iconic actor starred in “MASH,” “Ordinary People,” “Hunger Games”
Sutherland was born July 17, 1935 in New Brunswick, Canada, later moving to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Throughout his childhood he battled a number of serious illnesses including polio, rheumatic fever and spinal meningitis.
He left Canada to pursue an interest in acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and soon found work in TV and low-budget films.
He got a Hollywood breakthrough in the classic war film The Dirty Dozen, whose ensemble cast includes Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown. It was the fifth highest grossing film of 1967.
After leaving London for Hollywood, Sutherland landed one of his most iconic roles in the 1970 anti-war comedy-drama MASH, originating the role of “Hawkeye” Pierce. MASH was one of the most successful films of the decade and is regarded as a classic.
Throughout the ’70s, Sutherland was a Hollywood leading man: his films include in the Oscar-winning Klute opposite Jane Fonda, the psychological horror Don’t Look Now, and the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He also appeared in the hit comedy Animal House.
In 1980, he starred in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Other major films include Backdraft, JFK, Six Degrees of Separation, The Italian Job and Pride and Prejudice.
Sutherland also had success on TV, winning an Emmy Award for the 1995 film Citizen X, and a Golden Globe for the television film Path to War.
A younger generation of moviegoers was introduced to Sutherland through The Hunger Games, the hit dystopian blockbuster series: Sutherland starred as the villainous President Coriolanus Snow.
Though he surprisingly never received an Oscar nomination, he received an Academy Honorary Award in 2017, “for a lifetime of indelible characters, rendered with unwavering truthfulness.” He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011, and on the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2000.
Sutherland was married three times; he was married to actress Francine Racette for 52 years until his death. He was previously married to Lois May Hardwick and Shirley Douglas, and also had an affair with his Klute co-star Jane Fonda.
He had five children — including most famously his son Kiefer Sutherland, the actor best known for playing Jack Bauer in 24.
”I was too young to go watch my father’s films in the cinema,” Kiefer Sutherland told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “By the time I hit 20, VHS was available and a friend of my fathers had a lot of his films. In three days I watched Don’t Look Know, Klute, M*A*S*H, Kelly’s Heroes, 1900 and Fellini’s Casanova.”
“It was such a wide spectrum of characters, and I remember calling him up and I felt really badly that I grew up not knowing what a profoundly special actor he was, I felt horribly guilty of that. As a young actor, I had never known or seen another actor who’ve done characters so diverse either.”
Rest in peace to the iconic actor Donald Sutherland who lent his talents to so many great, classic movies — you will be missed 💔😢
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