Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40)
25 years ago, I flew in from New Jersey for an important weekend in Minnesota. Dee and I had 3 house showings lined up with our realtor in the hopes of buying our first home together. The first one we looked at had a great exterior, but we weren’t fond of the inside. The second one we desired even less, putting all the pressure on the 3rd and final one we were going to look at.
I can’t recall how many prayers I said, but I’m sure they were plentiful. If that 3rd showing didn’t work out, I’d have to schedule future trips to Minnesota and go through the process perhaps repeatedly. As the realtor opened the front door of the 3rd home, I’m sure a smile came over my face as I knew it had hope. That smile continued as we toured all the upstairs rooms. And then when I saw the downstairs for the first time, I just knew in my heart we had found the one. The next few months were tricky negotiating the sale over 1000 miles away, but by January 2000 we had closed and in July we were married.
Unbeknownst to us, one of the best parts of picking that home turned out to be the neighbors next door. They were in their 70s at the time, so there was a bit of an age gap. I’ll never forget our first Christmas in the neighborhood when they happened to be hosting the party. As it turned out, most of our new neighbors were older and one after the other kept inquiring “Whose kids are you!!” :)
As the years went by, we became only closer. What a gift it was to have two people you knew always had your back so close by – either grabbing the mail in a pinch, grabbing unexpected packages from the front porch, taking the garbage cans in, etc. But always the most important thing was the relationship, and we did our best to get together as often as we could.
The winters were always tough, as the two would escape the frozen tundra to Florida for a few months, making our winters left behind feel even colder. While it was hard to see them go, we knew it was for the best – we didn’t have to worry about them shoveling, slipping on ice, etc. Unfortunately, this past March we received an email that we knew inevitably was going to come – this was going to be their final winter in Florida. The process had just become too tough to navigate now in their mid 90s.
As sad as that was, a few months later we received news that was even worse – they had decided to move to a senior living facility. A big part of us selfishly wanted to talk them out of it, but we decided to just be as supportive as we could. I did take the opportunity this summer and fall to soak up every opportunity I could to see them. There were many days where there was just two of us sitting on the edge of their garage enjoying the weather, but by the end of October there was a sizable circle of neighbors doing their best to enjoy our final days together.
By mid-November they were gone. It’s been an emotional period to say the least. Although many thoughts of sadness have crept in, there has been a greater sense of thanksgiving - especially as I think back to those two kids desperately searching for a home. While we were completely focused on the house itself, we had a loving heavenly father that was ensuring we were blessed with an even greater gift…the wonderful neighbors next door.