Are you my neighbor?

I wrote this last night, and I rambled a bit. I thought about re-writing it in condensed for this morning, but this week is pretty crazy between painting the deck and getting ready for my final class, so I'm afraid rewriting it might not be the best use of my time tonight. It is a neat story though, so if you bear with my ramblings, I hope you enjoy it.

Tonight I was thinking about taking Bug-a-Boo to a neighborhood bonfire/Halloween party. I didn’t want to walk with him in the dark, so I drove the 2 blocks to the party. On the way, I realized it was sprinkling. As I neared the bonfire, I saw only a couple people there and the costumes they were in seemed a bit scary for my toddler, so we kept driving. I debated what to do. Hubby was working, so it was either take my toddler trick-or-treating or to the nearby neighborhood block party or stay home and pass out treats to the kids who came around trick-or-treating. As I drove out of our neighborhood, trick-or-treating was just beginning and I was amazed at the number of kids out. Everywhere that we’ve lived before only one or two trick-or-treaters ever came around. This is the first Halloween in our house, and apparently our neighborhood is the one that kids from other neighborhoods come to. When I realized that, we headed home and I got things set up to give out treats. There were at least 40 kids that came around, and that was in a light rain! Bug-a-Boo sat (stood, crawled, walked, played with the leaves, pulled up a plant that thankfully was dead, and splashed in the puddles on our front porch) next to me in his lion costume and helped me hand out treats. He had a great time, except for when one group of girls in scary costumes came. That made him cry and made me glad I decided to forgo the neighborhood party. It was so fun this year to be able to give treats to so many kids! I felt a little like by choosing to hand out treats instead of getting them this year, I was, in a small way, beginning to teach him that it is better to give than to receive. I don’t think there would have been anything wrong with his getting treats, and in future years I’m sure he’ll get his turn. It’s just that this year it was nice to only give.

During a time when the rain really picked up and the flow of kids slowed down, I sat looking at the house across the street from ours. We have been in our house for a year and a half. Although we were out of town for 5 months close to the beginning of our home-ownership, we have been back for 10 months now. Yet, I had never met the neighbors across the street from us. Their house sits in the middle of five lots, so it is high on the hill and set back from the road. Often I can’t even tell if they are home. As I sat thinking about this, I realized that their lights were on, meaning that they were handing out treats as well. All the neighbors I’ve met so far have been really cool people, so I don’t know why it takes me a while to gather enough courage to go knock on their door and introduce myself. Actually, until tonight I’d never knocked on a neighbor’s door. All the neighbors I’ve met, I’ve done so by approaching them when they were in their yard. I’m not sure why this is. I guess it’s just that people don’t typically drop by unannounced anymore. Anyway, I was pondering all this and realized that trick-or-treating would be the perfect “excuse” to meet my neighbor. Hubby came home while I was pondering, so I turned over treat-bearing to him while Bug-a-Boo and I crossed the road and climbed the hill.

I rang the doorbell and it took a second for her to answer. I almost turned around and quickly retreated back to the comfort zone of my house, but knowing that it was Halloween and she was handing out treats and therefore probably would come to the door eventually, I waited. A few seconds later she answered the door. I held out Bug-a-Boo’s bucket and prepared to say “Trick or Treat” when she said, “Hi. You’re my neighbor aren’t you? Please, come in, come in!” We introduced ourselves, and I explained that really we weren’t there for treats, so much as I saw trick-or-treating as a good excuse to come say hello and introduce myself. We talked for a minute or so, then what she said next blew me away. “Do you mind to wait here for just a minute? I have a Christmas present that I bought for you last Christmas. Do you mind if I get it for you now?” Excuse me! You what? “Uh, sure, no problem.” A few seconds later she was back. She handed it to me and asked me to open it. It was a music box in the form of an angel holding a baby. It plays Silent Night. She knew that I was her new neighbor, and that I was pregnant when we moved in. “I’ve been holding onto it thinking that one of these days you would make it up the hill so I could meet you, and I could give it to you then.” I’m not sure why she never came to introduce herself to me. Maybe around here that’s not how things are done. Anyway, I was blown away by this show of thoughtfulness. I mean really, she bought me this gift 10 months ago not knowing me. Then she held onto it for those 10 months still wrapped in the Christmas paper with the bow beautifully attached, not crushed. She knew right where it was, so that when I came, it took her only a few seconds to locate it. Wow!

I’m sure there is a point I could make here – like how this lady was a picture of God, waiting for us to come to Him so that he can shower blessings upon us. For now though, I just want to bask in the cool thought of my new neighbor.

Next she got down on Bug-a-Boo’s level and talked to him a little. I have rarely seen him open up so quickly talking to a stranger. He was babbling away making all kinds of hand motions and signals. I pulled back his lion mane and his head was kind of hot & sweaty, so the next thing I know my neighbor had gotten a sippy cup for him and filled it with cool milk. (She had some on hand for grandkids.) When we left, I tried to return it, but he wasn’t done with his milk, and she said to just keep it. She then filled our bucket with several bags of chips and a handful of candy, and sent us on our way. Now tell me, why was I so nervous about approaching my neighbor and introducing myself?