God tells us to love thy neighbor as we love ourselves, but how many of us know our neighbors, or for
that matter their names? Would we recognize them in the grocery store? I’m not just asking these
questions of you, but also of myself.
As a military spouse, it was important to know who lived next door. The closest relative oftentimes lived
hundreds or even thousands of miles away, and when one spouse left for temporary duty assignment,
the other was left behind to fend for his or herself. Thus, knowing the neighbors was very important.
Once we retired and transitioned from the military to the civilian world, there was a noticeable
difference in our military and civilian neighbors. Our civilian neighbors did not socialize nearly as much
which was a big culture-shock, to say the least.
I found myself doing as the “Romans did.” So one day, instead of pulling my car straight into the garage
and letting the door down– I parked in the driveway, got out of my car and took time to say “hello” and
guess what? They replied “hello” and I took advantage of that moment and said, “it’s such a beautiful
day, isn’t it,” and they reciprocated with, “it sure is.” After all those years, it only took us a few moments
out of our day to begin a relationship. That’s crazy, huh? And over time, we found out we both liked cats,
horses, walking and eventually ended up working together on several neighborhood projects. Now I’m
as happy as a dog at the animal shelter being rescued by a new family.
Here’s a quick story about my neighbors and how they saved me thousands of $$$$$.
One Friday afternoon while pulling weeds in the garden, I wanted something cold to drink. I came inside
and as I went to the refrigerator I heard a hissing sound. I attempted to ignore it, but it brought back
memories of the time I found a rattlesnake on the back porch. I followed the sound and as it intensified, I found myself in the laundry room. Upon opening the door, I cautiously peeked inside and the room felt like a sauna. It was so hot I could barely breathe– my glasses were steamed which impaired my vision and I looked down at my linoleum floor noticing my feet were soaked as I stood in hot water. I was in shock and bellowed out “oh my God!” I realized that water was gushing from behind the dryer and had to be turned off to mitigate further damage. I grabbed towels from the dirty clothes hamper to cover the floor, but that idea wasn’t sufficient. The water was seeping into the den, garage and swiftly towards the master bedroom. I didn’t have time to panic– I needed help.
I noticed the next door neighbor’s truck parked in the driveway and frantically ran over and rang his
doorbell, but no response. So I ran across the street and rang their doorbell like a pushy salesman and I
thanked God when she opened the door. I’m sure she could tell by the grimace on my face that I was in
trouble. I quickly began explaining my situation, but before I could finish the next door neighbor walked
outside to see what the commotion was about. Minutes later, he turned off the water supply to the
house and both neighbors showed up in my driveway with wet-vacs. I couldn’t believe it; God was truly
watching over me. Subsequently, the three of us extracted water that had by this time consumed most
of the first floor and garage.
After the insurance company assessed the damage, I was informed that because I was able to remove
the water so expeditiously and thus minimizing damage, therefore I saving thousands of dollars in repair costs.
I learned the value of knowing my neighbors, and that I needed to purchase a wet-vac. Love thy
neighbor, or at least like them. It only takes a few seconds to say: hello, hola, hi, bonjour, namaste, ciao,
hallo, or what’s up.
Please follow me on social media and say “hi:”
Twitter: @MessengerStacy
Instagram: @messengerstacy
Facebook: Stacy Wooten