A Great Neighborhood

When our children were young, my late husband, Carl and I moved our little family to a housing addition just outside of town. Only one street in and out. Being new to the neighborhood that winter, it was a blessing to live at the bottom of a hill where cars often stalled due to snow or ice. Having no cell phones in those days, people often came to our door to use the phone. We loved sharing a cup of coffee and conversation while they waited for help. 

The following summer, residents formed a neighborhood watch association, complete with holiday celebrations. Dozens of kids decorated bikes and paraded the streets of our little community that was surrounded by fields and trees. Our oldest son and his friends spent hours exploring the woods behind our home. 

Being a beginning writer, I published a monthly newsletter about things happening in the neighborhood. My kids and their friends delivered the free, one page bulletin to every household. It was through the newsletter that several of us ladies started a monthly game night, meeting in each other’s homes. Then one friend offered ceramic classes and we loved that. I still have a vintage-type pitcher and bowl set and a lighted, ceramic Christmas tree from those fun times. 

And we always helped each other, checking on next-door neighbors and older friends when storms occurred. We took cookies to new families moving into the area and watched over each other’s kids as if they were our own. 

I don’t know if neighborhoods like that exist anymore. I hope so. I hope people still share cookies and a kind word with new neighbors. I hope young couples still cross the street or walk next door to check on an elderly person or a single mom. I hope our way of life in that little neighborhood where my children grew up has not vanished. 

We definitely need each other. And if you’ve never experienced such a caring community, perhaps you could be the first to start a “welcome” tradition in your neighborhood. It just might become a trend!