I love my neighborhood. It's the kind of place that I always pictured raising a family in, with porch parties and friendly neighbors and a real sense of community. Elizabeth and I first shared an apartment over on Fifth Avenue (she'd lived on that street in several different apartments before meeting me) before moving into our "forever home" on Percy Street. We've made great friends with our neighbors, and I am really excited to watch our kids grow up here.
One of the neighbors that we have become close with is Anne. She lives around the corner from us in the house that she grew up in (her family has been in the neighborhood for generations). She's opinionated and funny and very Southern and just great. We first met Anne after she posted a request for a dog walker on our neighborhood listserv. Elizabeth, with Elliot in tow in the Bjorn, was the first to respond and we ended up doing that for Anne for many months (I'd take a shift here and there). In that time, we would visit with her or have her over for dinner. She even came to Elliot's first birthday party. Visiting Anne became something we did every couple of weeks at the very least, and it was something we really enjoyed doing.
Unfortunately, Anne's health started to deteriorate around the time that we found out that Eleanor would be joining our family. Because of that, it became harder to go over and see her, to the point where I hadn't seen Anne since Eleanor was born.
I emailed her recently because of the major snowstorm we had. I wanted to make sure that she was ok and that she'd been able to get her driveway cleared. Luckily she had, but in our emails back and forth we realized how long it had been since we had visited with one another. I decided to fix that. Elizabeth had to work late last night, so to pass the time while she was out, I put Eleanor in her stroller, put Elliot on my shoulders (he calls these "dragon rides"), and the three of us went over to Anne's house.
Anne has two children of her own, as well as several grandchildren, and she's wonderful with the kiddos. Elliot, even though it had been awhile since he'd seen her, ran right into her house and started playing with her cats and the bowl of wax fruit on her dining room table. Anne gave him some Italian ice, and we all sat around and caught up with each other. Anne, as always, was so happy to see Elliot and was even happier to meet and hold Eleanor. Early on with Elliot, we started referring to Anne as "Mee-Maw." We'll do the same for Eleanor.
I wanted to visit Anne with the kiddos because I think it's very important that they feel the connection to our neighborhood, our home, that Elizabeth and I feel. I grew up living next to two elderly women, one right next door and one across the street from us. Mrs. Crosby and Mrs. Niles lived alone in their houses, and my mom would check in on them from time to time to see how they were doing. I came along on those visits, and I remember that Mrs. Niles especially loved the time that we spent with her. Mrs. Crosby fed pigeons, and was fine with us as long as we didn't chase after "her birds."
Our spheres of influence extend beyond the walls of our houses, and I'd like to think that many of us choose to live in bigger towns and cities is that we want to make connections with people. It's a lonely voyage through life if you wall yourself off from one another. That's why my mom made sure to bring us along when she visited with our neighbors, and I want to make sure Elliot and Eleanor have an appreciation and desire for connecting with others as well.
We collide with so many different kinds of people in our lives, people who can teach us things and help us grow. It's important to respect and to understand the past, and there's no better way than by talking to those that lived it. Anne is a great example of this because of the history she's seen in our neighborhood and in our city. She's a link to generations that have come before us. She's got great stories to tell.
But, most of all, she's an incredibly sweet woman that has showered our family with love from the moment she came into our lives. I look forward to Elliot and Eleanor continuing to visit with their Mee-Maw for as long as she'll have them.
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