It snowed 18 inches in Pennsylvania today. The entire countryside was covered with a thick quilt of wet snow that looks like a classic Andrew Wyeth painting. Everything in my area shut down, and no one went to work. Schools and offices closed. People were warm in their houses by their welcoming fireplaces.
My wife and I dressed in all our winter gear and grabbed our snow shovels and went outside this afternoon to dig out our long driveway. Just as we were starting to dig, our neighbor pulled up on his Bob Cat vehicle and plowed our driveway in less than 15 minutes. We just stood there waving and watched him with huge smiles on our faces. When he finished, we went over to thank him, and I introduced my wife to Leon.
I thanked him, and my wife thanked him at least three more times. He responded said with a smile and little shrug and murmured “I like to help my neighbors.” We offered to pay him, and he adamantly refused, as if payment was an offensive thought. We plan to take a tray of homemade cookies over to him later tonight to show him our appreciation.
Once he was done, he plowed my neighbor’s driveway and then every single one in sight. Every single one. Many friends he had never met and didn’t know.
I admit I did not know Leon and didn’t know his name until today.
Here is a question I thought about -- when did we stop being kind to our neighbors? When did we stop knowing our neighbors? When did we decide to not be neighborly?
I remember when I was a kid, we all knew our neighbors. Neighbors took care of neighbors. If someone was sick, we took them over food. We watched their house when they were out of town. No, I am not just imaging that in the glow of nostalgia, it actually happened.
Why are we disconnected from our neighbors? Is it because we are too busy? Is it the advent of technology? Do we feel more comfortable “friending” people on Facebook behind a screen? It is that we don’t trust a stranger? Have we seen too many shows about crime on TV? I have noticed after disasters like 911 and Columbine, we all pull together as neighbors and reconnect with humanity around us. At some point, we go back to our compartmentalized lives. We stop being neighbors again.
I learned for Leon that we need to make more effort to connect with our neighbors again. I saw the sheer joy and happiness on every one's faces at being shown an act of simple kindness. It was in Leon’s eyes too.
I am going to challenge you today. Let’s all learn a lesson from Leon. Pick one neighbor and go over and introduce yourself. Do a small favor for one neighbor. Bring in their trash cans from the curb for them. Shovel your sidewalk and then their sidewalk too. It is a lesson we have all forgotten, and if everyone remembered it today, imagine what a world this could be. It all starts one hand to one hand, one neighbor to one neighbor. Leon would be happy to know he had that impact.