Who is My Neighbor?

I had to write this out so that I would never forget it. We had quite an adventurous weekend, and got some valuable reminders of what a neighbor really is.

Who is my neighbor? This weekend I had a few opportunities to find out. I was reminded of the story in the New Testament, when the Lawyer asks the Savior, “Who is my neighbor?” Of course, this is when the Savior tells the story of the Good Samaritan, but what we learn from the story is that EVERYONE is our neighbor. We live in a time when, in some places, the word “neighbor” really doesn’t mean much. People get busy with their lives, and often don’t even know who their neighbors are. They may possibly have never even spoken with them. In our LDS culture, because we spend time with some of them at church, or at mid-week activities, we often know our neighbors. But do we act like neighbors? Do we treat them like friends? Do they seem like family? Jared and I are blessed to live in a ward where neighbors truly care about each other. I have never witnessed the sense of community that we have in our neighborhood. We were the recipients of neighborly service on Saturday.

Friday night, around midnight, I heard a strange noise. At first I thought it was a train. We live near some tracks, and have heard trains go by so often that we actually don’t even notice them much anymore. This sound, although it sounded like a freight train zooming past, turned out to be a horrible wind storm. It sounded like what I would imagine hearing a tornado would be. We could hear strange ripping noises, and soon realized after seeing a garbage can blowing down the street, and noticing some weird looking shadows in our back yard, that it was shingles tearing from the roof. They were landing in our backyard. The yard was full of them, 50-60 of them in fact. We knew we were in for a long day come morning. Jared got up early and went to Home Depot. He bought 3 big packages of shingles and a large box of nails. Before he could even get out the door to set up the ladder, we heard a knock. We opened the door to see our neighbor there, holding a hammer, asking to help. Before long there were others there hammering away. I truly love our neighborhood. This kind brother had decided, before the morning even came, that he would need to survey the neighborhood. He was sure there would be damage to repair. After making sure his home was fine, he started walking down the street to check on others. Ours seemed to be the worst, so that’s where he ended up. I don’t know where Jared would have been without his help (and the help of a couple of other friends). Probably still on the roof! I am so grateful for such willing and helpful neighbors. They bless our lives!

Monday brought a different experience, learning what a neighbor is. We had just left Kaitlyn’s soccer game and were headed up to Cedar Hills to visit some friends we haven’t seen in a long time. As we drove up 5^th East in American Fork, we passed through my old neighborhood. My kids love to say “Hey, there’s Grama and Papa’s old house!” as we go by. This time, when we got about a block north of the home I grew up in, we heard Kaitlyn yell from the backseat, “There’s a house on fire!” I was certain that it had to just be smoke rising from someone’s chimney, but Jared turned the van around when she said, “Really guys. There is a HOUSE ON FIRE!” We could see smoke as we retraced our way back down the street. As we rounded the corner, we could see the flames shooting up from the side of a garage. Jared jumped out of the van, and I dialed 911 on my cell phone. I could hear him banging on the door and yelling for them to open up. The lady at the door was scared. She wondered who this crazy person was, and didn’t dare to open her front door to him! I noticed that she was Hispanic, and probably couldn’t understand what Jared was telling her. Soon she could see the panic on his face, and hesitantly opened the door. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out to where she could see the fire. I was talking to the 911 dispatcher, when we heard her scream and run back inside. She had handed her little girl to Jared, who placed her on the sidewalk. I walked over to where this little girl was standing, because I could see her crying and knew she was afraid. Jared was back in the house trying to get everyone else out. Soon there was another tiny little girl standing next to her sister. I held the smaller of the two, and felt the arms of the other one wrap around my neck. I was still on the phone, and Eryn could see that this other little girl needed to be held as well, so she jumped out of our van and came to pick her up. We took them across the street, and soon everyone was out of the house. Jared was moving this family’s car away from the fire, and neighbors were coming out of their homes to see what was going on. It didn’t take long for these neighbors (some of which were MY old neighbors) to rally around each other, giving hugs of comfort, holding onto one another, knowing that this family needed them. Soon we could hear the sirens in the distance. The firemen got there quickly, hooked up to the hydrant, and had the flames put out in no time. There was significant damage to the garage and the nearby fence, but their living area had been spared. I was so grateful to have been driving by at that moment, and that Kaitlyn had noticed something that neither Jared or I had even seen. Although we didn’t know this little family, we felt like their neighbors. We thought about them the rest of the day, and neither of us slept very well that night. I’m glad they have neighbors all around them that care about them and that will take care of their needs.

We are all neighbors. We need to look out for each other, and care for one another. I’m so grateful to neighbors who are so willing to set aside what they are doing and help our little family, and I’m also very thankful for the opportunity to help someone else in need. My children were taught a valuable lesson about what it means to be a neighbor, and Jared and I were able to have a great reminder of that as well.