Neighbors Outraged As Family Enjoys Pool-Time Where Tragic Drowning Occurred

“The past is the past; we can’t give up our pool.”

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• January 21, 2024

In the search for their dream home, our narrator (Original Poster) and her husband stumbled upon a hidden gem —a spacious residence with a backyard pool.

It was a luxury they never thought they could afford, but this was surprisingly within their price range. The catch? A heartbreaking incident from the summer before, where a neighbor's child drowned in that very pool.

The couple weighed their options, and after much deliberation, they chose to embrace this opportunity. Their children could finally have their own bedrooms— and a pool too! A deal like this only came around once in a lifetime.

The pool was initially left untouched since it was too cold to go swimming. But with the onset of the warmer days, the new homeowners decided to give their new pool a spin.

OP’s kids were ecstatic; their screams of glee basically echoed through the entire neighborhood. Unfortunately, the grieving family turned out to be OP’s next-door neighbors, and they didn’t take this very well.

They accused OP’s family of insensitivity. How could they let their kids splash around in a pool that had seen tragedy?

But that wasn’t all! A neighborhood online post went viral, and from there, OP discovered many others shared the same sentiment.

Despite it all, OP's family didn’t want to let go of their pool. Did clinging to this luxury make them bad people?

The story in detail

While house-hunting, the couple found a good house that was cheaper than its market value because a child had drowned in the pool last summer

They decided to look past the incident and snatch the deal

The couple later decided to fill up the pool for their kids to have a great time

The neighbor whose kid drowned in the pool confronted the couple and slammed them for bringing back traumatizing memories of that fateful day

Later on, OP and their husband learned that people in the neighborhood feel it’s insensitive to still keep the pool after the tragic incident that occurred

The family has been enjoying the pool, but now, they’re considering getting rid of it due to the backlash

We gathered some interesting comments for your viewing pleasure:

OP and their husband can’t change what happened in the past

“NTA - I can understand how those sounds could be traumatizing, but it's really not reasonable to expect that pool to never be used again.”

“NTA. If they wanted the pool filled in, they should have bought the property and done it.”

“Sorry a kid died in the pool . But it has nothing to do with you.”

Redditors agree OP’s family isn’t wrong—after all, they can't change what happened before their arrival.

They argued that filling up the pool made no sense as it was an extremely expensive endeavor. It would also significantly impact OP’s family investment by reducing the property value.

If the neighbors were genuinely concerned, they should have pooled their resources (pun intended) when the house was up for grabs. They missed their chance, and now it was time to let OP enjoy their new pool in peace.

What do you think about this story? Let us know in the comments.

Jesse