Good Neighbors

Truly good neighbors are rare these days, but I have to tell you that mine are among the best! The months since Papa died would have been much more difficult without this retired couple from next door.

John, Virginia, and their grandson Chris, were the first to respond to my pleas for help when Papa collapsed. They were kneeling at my side as I held his lifeless body in my arms and watched the color drain from his face. How grateful I was for their comforting presence!

Throughout the year, John has quietly and without fanfare appeared to mow my enormous yard and tend to many other tasks that nobody else was available to deal with. I can't tell you how many times I have looked out the door to see John cheerfully riding his lawn tractor back and forth across my property. Sometimes his grandsons or another neighbor pitch in, but it's always John leading the pack. "I like to help people," he says.

Yesterday, I noticed John driving by the front door, and was amused to see Virginia sitting Indian-style in the wagon behind him. I grabbed my camera to get her picture, but by the time I made it outside, she was already crawling out, ready to get to work. Earlier in the day, John and I had cleaned out a large mulched area. They were returning to finish the job and clean up the piles of weeds and limbs that we had set aside. While John dug up some stubborn brush, Virginia and I loaded their little wagon and hauled it to the brush pile that we hope to burn sometime soon.

I am so very blessed to have this couple as neighbors! Though I can never begin to repay them for their innumerable acts of kindness, I just want to publicly say, "Thank you from the depths of my heart for all that you have done for me!" I pray that God will bless them one hundred fold for their spirit of Christian love and servanthood.