Before my family moved to Jacksonville in the middle 70's, we lived in a subdivision in Fenton, Missouri. At that time, Fenton was no where near the size it is now. We were the first subdivision that was built and it felt like the wilderness with all the trees and open, undeveloped, areas around us. Our neighborhood was very close. We were the pioneers of the area and bonded immediately. So many of the families had kids our ages. My parents were friends with my friends parents and we all spent a lot of time together. We played baseball in the backyard of one of the houses down the street. We rode our bikes in a small gang. Outside until dark every day that we could. What an idyllic childhood scene.
I remember my parents walking from our house to other neighbor's houses (and vice versa) and grilling out dinner, swimming and spending time together. They became really close with a family right across the street. I became best friends with their daughter who was the same age as me. The family was Italian and their house always smelled like spaghetti sauce. In fact, that family is who gave my mom the recipe for sauce that our kids and I made this past Christmas. Their family recipe became our family recipe. It was that kind of relationship. It was a magical time and our neighborhood allowed us many opportunities to meet people we wouldn't have had in our lives if not for that street.
Moving to Jacksonville opened up my world. Instead of just riding my bike in the immediate neighborhood where our house was, we were encouraged to ride our bikes all over town. Jacksonville is much smaller than Fenton and this lifestyle led to interacting with people outside my immediate neighborhood. Instead of needing my mom to drive me where I had to go, I could ride my bike most places. We lived by Duncan Park but some of my close friends lived in South Jacksonville, so I would ride my bike over there nearly every day in the summers. I spent a lot of time at Nichols Park at the pool. Lots of kids hung out there in those days.
As an adult in Jacksonville, Ed and I have lived in a few different neighborhoods. We actually bought our first house in Murrayville on Cottage Lane, a cute dead end street as you first come into town. I met a woman, who became one of my best friends, because of that neighborhood. While she was closer to my mom's age and she had sons' who Ed and I went to school with, Jan kind of 'adopted' our family and our kids from day one. She was at our house when we brought Bentley home from the hospital after she was born. She was at every family event. She was a part of our family and we loved her. She passed away a few months ago, but the memories we shared will always stay with us.
Fast forward several years to where we have been for over a decade. We live on a fairly busy street in South Jacksonville. It's not a typical neighborhood and a bit more difficult to get to know who lives near. Now, we knew one family when we moved in because we'd known them for years. They live two doors down, on the same side of the street, and have a daughter who went to school with our oldest son. Kind of like us, won't bother you but if you need anything we can count on each other. I wouldn't hesitate to walk down and ask Maureen for help. They are busy, cars in and out all the time, but I know they would never be too busy for us.
We also know a couple of other families, who live across the street, from either their kids or from mutual friends. Again, I know if we needed anything that they would be there for us. I enjoy the times we catch each other in the yard or as we walk to the mailbox. We get a few moments to catch up and I always walk back in the house feeling grateful we have such nice people living close by.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was finding that we had a true, old-fashioned, neighbor living near. His house sits catty-corner from ours on the other side of the street. If you've ever driven down South Diamond during the Christmas season, you've seen his house! He is the one who decorates with lots of lights, yard decorations and love. We watch the process begin well before Thanksgiving because it takes so many hours to get it just right. In the beginning, we would just wave and yell a comment or two, across the street, when we would see him and his wife, Dawn, outside. As time went on, Walter would occasionally come across and ask Ed what he was working on or just to talk. This past Christmas, Ed put up a few more lights and Walter was thrilled to see lights on our side! He even loaned us some stakes to hold the lights we had in the landscaping up a bit to keep them out of the snow. We've woken up, after a large snowfall, to see that Walter has used his snow blower to clear our driveway. He's saved the day when Braxton had a leak in a brake line, on a weekend, and we couldn't take it anywhere to have it repaired. Walter showed Ed and Brax how to fix the line and Brax was able to head back to St. Louis at the end of the weekend, like usual. When Braxton wanted to buy an artificial Christmas tree (that Walter and Dawn were selling) for his 4th grade classroom, they just donated it instead. The list goes on. Braxton has even commented how unusual it is to find someone who goes out of his way to help those who live around him.
We wave at our neighbors. We are grateful for the ones we know we can rely on in these busy times we live in. But to find someone who truly enjoys being neighborly to all those around him, well, that's something special. Now, I'm not going to go as far as calling Walter "Mr. Rogers" because he isn't quite the red cardigan sweater type, but he is the most welcoming person you'll find in this neighborhood. We could all learn a lot from him.
It is what it is.
p
No comments:
Post a Comment