Editor’s note: The Gazette is publishing short essays over the next several weeks to mark National Good Neighbor Day on Sept. 28. Have a story about good neighbors in your lives? Send your submission of 500 words or less to opinion@gazettenet.com.

 

 

Recently, when I found the basil I planned to use for dinner was brown and wilted, I texted two neighbors. Within minutes, I received a reply inviting me to take as many basil leaves as needed from one of their backyard gardens. “Help yourself to the tomatoes, too,” he wrote.

This is the kind of relationship being celebrated this month as the country marks National Good Neighbor Day on Sept. 28.

Much is made of the instances when neighbors fail to get along — disputes over dogs and noise, sight lines and property lines, inadequately shoveled sidewalks and misplaced construction debris. These incidents make their way into police logs, newspapers, and sometimes even courtrooms. The adage “fences make good neighbors” come to mind.

But I’d venture a guess that good neighborly relationships are far more common, even if they might also be a tad taken for granted.

Proclaimed a national holiday in 1978 by then-president Jimmy Carter, I’d never heard of Good Neighbor Day until this year, when the Trauma-Informed Hampshire County network began organizing events in conjunction with it. I was curious to learn more about National Good Neighbor Day.

“The noblest human concern is concern for others. Understanding, love and respect build cohesive families and communities. The same bonds cement our Nation and the nations of the world,” reads an excerpt from President Carter’s proclamation. “For most of us, this sense of community is nurtured and expressed in our neighborhoods where we give each other an opportunity to share and feel part of a larger family.”

This brought to my mind the bonds created on the short street in Northampton where I’ve lived for more than three decades. There are exactly 14 houses on the street, and while I don’t know every resident, over the years, I’ve developed enduring relationships with many.

These relationships are built around the mundane activities centered in our homes: dinner-making, driveway shoveling, cars starting (or not starting), dog walking, cat feeding, moving a dresser up a flight of stairs. We help one another with all these tasks. And so much more.

Several of us share a lawn mower. We saw no need for multiple mowers. It’s electric, and when it needs a new battery or blade, someone makes the purchase and lets the rest of us know so we can help pay.

When our bathroom plumbing was disrupted a few years back, several neighbors gave us open access to tubs and showers. One neighbor insists on snow blowing our sidewalk since we don’t have a snowblower, saving our backs from shoveling.

Neighbors are the unsung heroes of many of our lives — not necessarily our besties, not necessarily the people we share Thanksgiving with, although some do become dear friends. Neighbors are people who make our lives richer and more interconnected as we come to understand the value of small favors.

Laurie Loisel is director of communication and community engagement for the Northwestern district attorney’s office and a member of the Trauma-Informed Hampshire County steering committee.