by Todd Marsha
I would love to say our neighbors in each city we’ve lived in have been welcoming, accommodating, and genuinely nice people from the moment we moved in but, sadly, that’s not been the case. Unfortunately we’ve lived places where we didn’t even know all our neighbors until we were there 12-18 months.
I see you nodding your head, you’ve been there too. It’s a strange feeling, isn’t it? These houses are on all sides but you’re all still strangers. The longer they wait to introduce themselves, the longer you want to wait to introduce yourself. I get it. I’ve been there. Thankfully, with the passage of time, things happen organically and relationships finally form.
That’s what happened when we lived in Texas and in Wichita, KS. Things started slow but eventually warmed up. Just as we were really getting to know some folks, it was time to go. However in Cleveland, and now, back in Kansas, we were blessed with a great group of neighbors who went out of their way to introduce themselves and get to know us from the very beginning.
We still keep in touch, through Facebook, with our next door neighbors from Lake Erie Shores. We’re blessed to have them in our lives and be able to keep up with what’s going on in the old neighborhood. I have a feeling that if we ever do move from our current neighborhood in Kansas, we’ll keep in touch with our neighbors from here as well.
Our Village
What a great group of people we’ve found here. From the very beginning, we formed relationships through the common bond of daily family life. How amazing it was to learn that our neighbors down the street had an adopted pair of 5 year olds! Our next door neighbor’s son was going into Kindergarten, just like Jack! Across from the entrance to our street another family with kids close to Jack’s age lived.
Within a couple months of our arrival, our driveway was like Grand Central Station. Kids playing, lawn chairs lined up with moms talking about the day’s happenings and dads puttering around the house or working on the lawn. This was a real neighborhood!
When Jennifer broke her leg, our neighbors were there. One took Jennifer to the ER and watched Jack a couple times when we were in a pinch. Another took Jennifer shopping when I wasn’t available and came down just to help her in and out of the car and onto her knee scooter when Jennifer did make trips to the bank or to Jack’s school.
What’s amazing about our street is that we’re a group of people with different political views, different social views, and different religious views but it just doesn’t matter. Our families are what brought us together and what keeps us together. We’re all moms and dads trying to raise great kids who will do better than we did and make us proud.
We’re Havin’ a Party
When Jennifer proposed having a Halloween party in our driveway before trick or treating, I bet she got some strange initial looks. After all, she was on a knee scooter and her driveway chair of choice was a wheelchair. What business did she have throwing a party? She wasn’t about to let a plate and seven screws keep her from having a fine family shindig, though. It would take the proverbial “village” to make this party a success, but we had all the pieces in place. We just needed come together and make it happen.
Our neighbors each brought dishes over and helped Jennifer make her now famous “Mummy Dogs” and “Witches Fingers”. They helped with the set up so when I got home from work, all I had to do was change clothes and join in the fun. That night, as we chaperoned our kids through the suburban streets, I could feel the Holy Spirit’s presence. I relaxed, became social, felt comfortable and was just another dad. God was telling me, yet again, that we’d chosen the right neighborhood, in the right parish, and surrounded by the right people.
We’ve already started talking about how to make it bigger and better for next year. For starters, I’m taking the day off to help out. Perhaps I’ll don a costume of my own.
Or perhaps I’ll leave that to the kids…maybe.
God bless,
