Love Your Neighbors


I was raised Catholic.  My brother and I both went to a very small Catholic school in New Jersey for pre-K to 8th grade.  Today, neither of us are incredibly religious, but I do believe that we gained many of our values through this avenue of schooling.  I still maintain the belief that people are generally good and I give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  I've been hurt many times and still feel that there are people in my life who take advantage of me because of this, but I refuse to change.  Much of this comes back to my optimistic nature, which I am clinging to during these tumultuous times.

Yesterday, my neighborhood was hit by a crazy all day storm.  We had pouring rain for most of the day and winds upwards of 35 mph.  Being stuck inside all day, I found myself worrying about this scavenger hunt (final clue pictured above) that a neighbor of mine had put out for everyone to enjoy.

My roommates and I all completed the scavenger hunt last week.  I only knew it existed because one of my roommates found the clue while walking our other roommate's dog.  When she came into the kitchen post-walk, she was excited to tell me that there was a scavenger hunt out in the neighborhood.  She was angry with herself because she couldn't find the 4th clue and told me that she would get back out to finish it at some point.

I, of course, went out that afternoon and searched for the start of this scavenger hunt.  The clues were, adorably, very specific to the neighborhood.  (I struggled with one of them because I didn't know the school mascot of a local school. But, I've only lived here for 2 years and don't have any kids!)  It took me way longer than it should have, but I did complete the hunt on the first try.  I won't post all of the clues, but here are a few below:

"It is full of people, but always quiet.  Take a seat and you will find it."
"This road is 100 years old." 
I found myself thinking recently about how much joy this scavenger hunt could bring to a neighborhood that is feeling stir crazy.  I saw many families out attempting to solve the riddles while I was on the hunt.  This one small act by a neighbor provided an afternoon (at least!) of entertainment for many throughout the area, and a decent walk on top of that.  I wanted to thank these wonderful people by making them some sort of baked good (my go-to), but one of my roommates pointed out that they may not want to accept it because of the health crisis.  These neighbors are not ones that I know at all, so I wouldn't blame them for not trusting baked goods from me.  But we, as a household, do plan to go write a sidewalk chalk message in front of their house this week.  Now that the storm has passed, we can ensure that our message won't be quickly washed away.

Two days ago, on Easter Sunday, the roommate that initially found the scavenger hunt surprised us with an indoor Easter egg hunt, complete with rhymes, a crossword puzzle and a QR code.  It took us way too long to complete and we needed many hints, but it was so much fun!  She told us after the fact that she expected it to take us 15/20 minutes.  Instead, it took us around an hour.....  It was such a sweet gesture from her to put all of this effort into making this very intricate activity.  I personally think that she was inspired by our creative neighbor.

I guess the whole inspiration behind this post comes back to something I learned in Catholic school:  "Love your neighbor".  The world would be a better place if we all did things like my neighbor or my roommate.  They both brought some brightness to an otherwise relatively dark time in the world.

So, thank you to you both.  And thank you to everyone who is doing things for others during this time.

-Vicky


















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