One thing I will be eternally grateful for is our community. In today's society, it often feels like we're all living on islands. Sure, your island might be right next to someone else's, but the water between you feels deep. I don't know exactly when this cultural shift happened, but I know it occurred within my 44 years. Folks just don't seem to have the time, willingness, or energy to get to know their neighbors anymore—much to their own detriment.
We are currently living in our second house. Our first was a starter home in an okay neighborhood. It was safe and predominantly quiet—except on major holidays, when every redneck in the subdivision thought it appropriate to light off cascades of fireworks in the small park directly outside our back door. Fantastic environment for a recently returned Soldier from Iraq. 😐
But as I said, the neighborhood was fine. The only thing that felt odd was the total lack of interaction. Everyone kept to themselves. It’s not that people were actively unkind, but there seemed to be an unspoken rule that you simply shouldn't engage. Ironically, the only neighbors I had any type of positive relationship with were immigrants to the US; they were exceptionally kind and always made a point to say hello. The same could not be said for our native-born neighbors. Maybe there's a separate commentary to be made there.
Now, it might sound like we were trying really hard to form a community back then... we weren't. We were absolutely part of the perceived problem.
We stayed in that house for about ten years. Once we had our first daughter, we decided it was time to move. The house wasn't big, and the local schools were hot garbage. So, about seven years ago, we moved into our current home.
The difference was night and day. People actually went out of their way to introduce themselves. They seemed genuinely curious about us, which was a complete 180 from what we were used to. To put a cherry on top, my wife grew up in this neighborhood, so we had family living just a few blocks away. (Free childcare, baby! Yeah!)
We quickly became friends with most of our immediate neighbors. If you think back to seven years ago, we were eventually rolling right into the pandemic. As the kids have gotten older and folks have gotten busier, our opportunities to just hang out have dwindled. BUT, I know I can count on this community to help when we need it.
Which brings me to the inspiration for today's musing.
My oldest is the final hold-out in our house being sick. We thought she was over it, but alas, she started spewing the nonexistent contents of her stomach into the wee hours of the morning. Hence, no school again for the third or fourth day this week. (I don't remember; my brain no workie like it used to.)
This created a massive logistical problem this morning.
If you've read any of my previous posts, you've probably deduced that I've got problems. Lots of medical problems. None of them are life-threatening, just time-consuming and debilitating. I'm essentially a walking dumpster fire. Today, I had a scheduled appointment with an orthopod—an appointment I've already had to reschedule twice because of life. I really had to go, my wife had to go to work, and my sick daughter had to stay home.
She's right in that grey area of being old enough to stay home alone for prolonged periods, but not quite old enough for us to be completely comfortable with it—especially while she's been emptying her guts for days.
So, what did we do? I called a neighbor. Without hesitation, he graciously offered to be on standby if she needed help, and even offered to come sit with her if necessary.
And here we arrive at the entire reason for this post: I have great neighbors. It's not because we live in some anomalous, magical place. It's because we are surrounded by people who decided to put in the effort to make it great. I could go on about all the reasons I love this area, but that would detract from my main point: everyone can have this exact same thing. We just have to put in the effort. We have to actually talk to one another face-to-face. We have to be genuinely interested in each other's welfare. Maybe smile and wave when someone drives by instead of keeping our heads buried in our phones. Take a walk and talk to someone on your street for the simple reason of being a good neighbor.
There's a lot of division in the country today, but if we can all take a little time to actually connect with the people right next door, we can lessen that gap. (It also helps that our HOA doesn't allow political yard signs.)
In closing, I want to offer a heartfelt thank you to all of my neighbors who continue to make life just a little less daunting. Thank you.
Dad out.