These friends I've had for many years and our children are growing up together. This is community.
How I long to sit on my front porch, back deck or front yard with you, and let our children grow up together playing in the front yard so they can learn the value of love, respect, honesty, sharing, friendship, community.
While out doing some errands, we visited with my grandparents at their farm. An aunt and uncle live nearby and when we stopped at their barn to get some eggs, my son wanted to go in to see his cousin. I didn't feel like we had time, but we did for a minute. I didn't accept the pie, but my son did get to play for a minute. We had a few more stops, and he was downright grouchy that we couldn't continue down the road to his friend's house. He loves visiting. The home we lived in when he was a baby was on a cul-de-sac-- a quiet neighborhood with families of all ages. After a while, and after many stroller walks, he caught on that their were friendly people that lived in those houses who we would often greet in the yard or go knock on their door for an errand or visit. Every time after those first few visits were ingrained in his memory, he begged and cried to go visit. He had a great longing for community even before the age of two.
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| Stroller boy who loved to visit neighbors on our walks! |
I love it when he can play outside with our neighbor's son, who is about a year younger than him. In the summer when the windows were open, if he would hear voices he would stop and say, "Is that H...? I want to go see." He would hurry to go outside to see if his friend was playing, and sometimes he'd be disappointed if they were leaving.
I remember growing up in a neighborhood without kids. It seemed like forever but I was about 6 when kids (girls even!) moved in across the street. I was so excited because there were 3 of them and one was in my class! I remember they walked down their long driveway with their Mom to visit and meet us, and I was mortified when our large collie grabbed the youngest's blanket and proceeded to drag her around the yard. He was playing, but I thought for sure I'd never see them again! I was wrong.
While 4 girls of vast age differences had our social hiccups and girl fights, I still reveled in having friends nearby, no matter the struggles. I still tend to brag about it. "They lived across the street from me!" It's as if they belonged to me!
One summer when the one my age was going away, even though we talked the night before, I was so sad knowing she had left. Later, I found a note she'd left in my mailbox about friends and jeans always being there for you, and that she would miss me.
Because kids naturally gravitate toward each other, children tend to create instant community through their friendships with each other. Community creates friends, or sometimes a neighborhood does. It's a beautiful thing when people can go outside and make a friend.
