The Thoughtful Neighbor

You really don’t get to choose your neighbors. For the most part we had really great neighbors when we lived in the Midwest. We still keep in touch with our next door neighbors from there. When we moved to Capitol Hill in DC we lived in a tiny condo with forty units. Some of the neighbors were very strange, while others were fairly reasonable. It was a highly mobile bunch with a lot of renters who really didn’t care about the building. We didn’t get very close to many of them. Now that we live in northern Virginia we are located in another condo. Unfortunately due to the pandemic we haven’t really had the opportunity to meet many of them. On top of that, a lot of them downsized from the surrounding neighborhood and already knew each other. Most are lawyers and business types that we don’t have much in common with. So we are lucky to have a really nice neighbor next door to us. We met her when we first moved in and saw her regularly when she walked her dog. Then we started to get holiday greetings left by our door shortly thereafter. Yesterday was one of those occasions. My husband found a small bag outside of our door. We knew who it was from immediately. When we opened it there was a lovely box of chocolates and a Christmas card. It is such a thoughtful gesture. When her pooch passed away a year or so ago I painted a digital art portrait of Gus as a way to show our appreciation for her. It sure makes a difference when you have decent neighbors. We know how it feels when that isn’t the case. Thanks Pat!