By g emil reutter
On Tyson Avenue between Oxford and Montour a grassy island divides the avenue where some folks over time planted bushes and trees to make it look nice. Some say he walked this area for thirty years or more, tending and looking after things. Oddly enough he was the local funeral director and as he tended to those passing through, he tended to the grassy tree lined divider island. He was an old man when I witnessed his caring for this area, khaki pants, button down shirt, sun hat, and the always present cigar that he would chomp on when working. He carried a trash bag, clippers and a grabber to pick things up.
Over the years the irises and roses bloomed as well as barberry, wild mock orange and the healthy pin oaks, buckeye, honey locust, elm, plum tree, yew, white mulberry topped off by salvia. He maintained them all and removed trash along the way. There was always Foley tending to things and it wasn’t just on Tyson he also wandered the area by the railroad tracks on Oxford. One man never sought attention doing what he thought was normal. The sparrows, robins and cardinals still hang out on the island and most of the shrubs and trees are in good order except the dogwood which passed on shortly after Foley died and one white mulberry that is now intertwined with an elm. There are times when sitting in my car at the stoplight I think I see Foley and then I don’t. These things people do in the shadows of neighborhoods to make them better without fanfare. That was Foley and his work lives on. ••
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