A Cup of Sugar

When I was a little girl my mother would send me next door, with an empty coffee cup. ‘Ask Mrs. Erwin for a cup of sugar.’ Sometimes it was an egg, or a bit of milk. Whatever it was, Mrs. Erwin, in spite of having seven mouths to feed, always sent me home with whatever Mama needed. That’s the way neighbors were back then. Nobody ran to town just because they were out of something; they depended on neighbors to help them out.

After I grew up and we moved to bigger cities we got asked to tie our neighbor’s son’s tie for his first communion, to buy a lot of cookies and popcorn and such, and once in awhile we’d be asked to loan a tool. We always did, and it was nice to be asked. It made us feel like we were all in it together. Which we were. The residents of Rustling Oaks Estates are a good thirty minutes from a grocery store of any size; there is no Redbox nearby, and delivery pizza is completely out of the question. Being a good neighbor, however, is absolutely an option. Here’s to bringing back running next door to borrow an egg, or a cup of sugar, or even calling the neighbors up to come over for homemade pizza (it’s better anyway!) To inviting someone in the neighborhood to pop over to watch a movie, or a basketball game, or such.

We’ve got a lending library at the clubhouse, complete with games and books and DVD’s.  Feel free to take them home and invite someone else over to enjoy them with you. Or call around to see if someone has spare baby equipment or cots when family visits, or a tool you might need but not own. Not only will it help you out, it’ll make those lending feel like we’re in this together. Because we are, and that’s a good thing.