My Change of Heart

I have lived in my cottage a couple of years. I have a neighbor who has given me a headache since the beginning. He was a grumpy old man until recently. The change occurred a couple of weeks ago after I had seen an ambulance at his house. His wife's mother, who is in her 90s, lives with them so this was not a surprising occurrence. It turns out that his wife fell down and broke her back somewhere near her tailbone. For some reason, this had made him polite when speaking to me. The situation eased my serious dislike for him. I realize that he is caring for someone not blood related while his wife is temporarily going through rehabilitation in a nursing home. I can not imagine the anxiety of dealing with it all. I am not ever going to be his best friend, but at least I can be a sympathetic neighbor.