I was reminded about what it means to be neighborly today. My downstairs neighbor is an elderly lady who is lovely in all respects and over the last year we have talked to one another and interacted telling each other about our lives. Amy and I laugh about how much she must know of our life as we think about all the noises we must create for her living above her head. Anyways, we enjoy B and find her to be fun to interact with because she has a gentle spirit and on several occasions has remarked about how wonderful it is to have us rather than the last tenant who was quite a partier at all hours of the night.




I came home today and heard her open her door in our little common courtyard area. She said "Andrew! Andrew! can you help me with somethin'?". She proceeded to tell me that she could not get her car started and thought perhaps it was the battery. "Do you know how to do that?" she asked in her southern drawl. I said that I did and we proceeded to find out if we could jump the car. Just as I had arrived home she was on the phone with the towing company who had said that it would take at least an hour to arrive, and then they would charge an $80 fee put the car on the truck without attempting to check the battery or mess with jumper cables. That makes me a little indignant and kind of perturbed that there would be companies not providing assistance to their "neighbors", but rather profiting from distress.

After we got done successfully getting her car to start she said "How much do you want?" I said... "what do you mean?..." then it dawned on me that she was offering to pay me for my assistance to help her keep living. I laughed and said "Not a thing... there is such a thing as being neighborly, ya know!!!"

She puttered on about how its hard to live alone and what it takes today to feel like you can handle things. I felt for her as she talked, knowing that it was not long ago that was single and doing what I could to live in my singleness.

It was so nice to help a person in need. I also asked her if I had given her my phone number, because there have been several instances where I thought it would be nice to have that connection with her so that she could call for simple things such as a car battery jump or a cup of sugar.

We need connection in our life and sometimes we need to know our neighbors... sometimes people would think we are snoops, but we are not and we desire to love.

Well I sign off thinking about singing the tune to "Green Acres" and wondering what new adventure God would have me live in my community.