My parents have always been blessed to have neighbors who are thoughtful, and really pretty wonderful people. Just on the other side of their driveway is a white, split-level house where Ed and Tina Bemis lived until about 2004. Ed was a WWII veteran, and was always around watching television or climbing in or out of his camper-van for a trip down the hill for an afternoon whiskey in town. Tina was his ever-vibrant and terribly cheerful wife. After Ed passed away, we had an interim neighbor for short time, and then a man named Ray moved in.
Ray is a baby-boomer, like my parents, but on first glance you would mistake him for a man in his 40s. While physically strong, energetic, compact and muscular; Ray is a combination of many great character traits as well. My family has enjoyed and benefited from his proximity to our home and our lives. Though capable, Ray was having to negotiate his move from our neighborhood alone. My community group was more than eager to lend their hands.
One of the most interesting parts about inviting numerous people to give away their time with you are the varied responses you get. My friend John replied with something quotable I had never heard before. He said “I love helping people move.” After unscrewing my eyes to make certain of his sincerity, I applauded his attitude and wondered at the rare mental space John’s mind must inhabit. It was akin to meeting someone who enjoyed visits to the dentist.
And so John and Warren, Cody and I blessed our neighbor by loving him as we would hope to be loved. There was singing and drumming, beet-box style synthetic guitar riffs and impressions of Blink 182’s snarky discourse. We also took energy to ad-lib Jimmy Fallon style thank-yous to the items around the move. “Thank you, moving van ramp. For only being 30″ wide, when you could just as easily be a safer, more comfortable width.”
albaniacalling 