Welcome to this week’s Five Minute Friday. Our instructions, via creator Kate Motaung: “Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation.” Today’s prompt: NEIGHBOR .
Mr. Rogers was onto something when he asked, “won’t you be my neighbor?”
When I learned the prompt for this week was “neighbor,” I was tempted to do what is a typical format for me: talk about my current experience of being a neighbor and having neighbors, and how I wish I could have done some things about that differently (in retrospect).
My mind, though, fell on a neighbor I had when I was in high school. Although we weren’t “technically” neighbors (we lived about a mile apart), it was a small enough town that everyone was sort of your neighbor.
I would drop in, unannounced, at her house, and she (busy working parent of three young boys) would always be gracious about it, always work my visit into whatever was going on anyway.
I remember one time when she was baking her son’s birthday cake.
I don’t really multi-task well like that (baking AND making conversation?!) but she did.
And she ended up being there for me during what was, to put it mildly, a “rough patch.”
I am grateful for her, and wonder what happened to neighbors whose doors are always open. I know myself well enough to know that, despite my childhood dreams of being “that house all the kids hang out at,” I am really an introvert with a pretty inflexible way of doing things and was never meant to be “that mom.”
BUT, hopefully I have been the neighbor that was needed (except for that “tall grass citation thing….).
And perhaps the cyber world gives me an opportunity to be neighborly in an equally important way.
This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday linkup.
Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
it’s harder to find open door neighbours you know? and I like how you put it, the internet helps us introverts find easier ways of being a neighbour. 🙂
YES. The entire “neighbor” thing, especially once I had kids, gave me real insight into what I really am energized by vs the fantasy in my head!
A couple of decades ago I was fortunate enough to be the Open Door neighbour for all the kids (garage door, that is, as I was building an aeroplane and they were curious).
But thy kept returning, and not for me, and that was the beginning of kareem’s Day Care. kareem was a giant coal-black ex-fighting-Pit-Bull who loved kids. They could do anything with him, ride him, pull his tail, pretend to brush his teeth, and he’d just wiggle happily.
The parents (once they got over the shock) loved it, because these were the safest children on the planet. Kareem considered their care his sole purpose in life, and anyone wishing harm on them would have had time for maybe a quick regret before meeting Jesus.
I think I love Kareem! Amazing, truly, how dogs can unify. Thank you for stopping in; I can imagine how fascinating the airplane construction process must have been!
I love this idea of 5 min Friday. I tend to write this way, so it’s right up my alley! It’s also nice to have a word to run with.
It is! It’s deceptive though — “one word” sounds so simple — but ends up being quite complex in execution. Join us one Friday! It’s a great community.
Sounds fun. Do I put my 5 min writing here in comments? or ?
Hi! Here’s the site where the prompts are posted every Thursday around 10 pm ET. (There’s also a Twitter party in the hour leading up to that – #FMFParty).
http://www.fiveminutefriday.com. (And you can add your post to the link-up on that week’s post about the prompt.) Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
I like your insight about how we can be neighbours in different ways according to our personalities. We all have our gifts- we just have to find out how we can use them to show love to others.
Yes – we do. And we have to give ourselves grace to not feel beholden to unrealistic expectations. Thanks for stopping by.
I love your view on neighbor, which caused me to think back on my childhood to many lovely people who were “there for me” because I was able to just drop by. Thank you and bless you…. with all you need on your journey with Jesus.
Thanks, Lisa. Have a lovely weekend.
I hadn’t though about being neighbors in the cyber world. I love that image because I think we can be just that; whether online or in the flesh. I’m over in the 51 spot this week.
Thanks, Tara. I’ll stop by and visit! In a cyber way LOL.
I love how the prompt took you back to a time when someone was there for a rough patch. So blessed to know these neighbors who make special imprints on our loves. Have a beautiful week. Xx
Agree – so many blessings. Thinking of you this week.