Thankful for Good Neighbors

Good Neighbors
By Genevieve Williams, Snellville

Someone recently asked me about changes I had witnessed in the area. Yes, there have been changes in the 15+ years I have lived here, but the reasons I fell in love with Snellville have not changed. Heading the list is “Good Neighbors."

One afternoon when I was living in Miami, I came home to find the front door standing wide open. One glance inside showed that the house had been tossed. Not knowing if the perpetrators were still on the premises I ran across the street to my nearest neighbor.

The old man came to the door and just stared at me as I hysterically asked to use his phone, explaining that someone had broken into my house and I didn’t know if they were still in there. He sneered as he croaked something about my only bothering to visit when I had trouble then shouted “Too bad” and slammed the door in my face. That display of brotherly love was one of the reasons we left South Florida and moved to Georgia.

We had been living here about eight years when one day my foot slipped off the brake as I was pulling into our garage.

The car lurched and crashed into the back wall with a resounding bang. Our new neighbor, whom I had not even met, came running across the street asking if I was all right and if there was anything he could do. After assuring him that the only thing I was suffering was a case of major stupidity and minor embarrassment he finally went back across the street, saying, “Now, you’re sure you’re all right?”

That neighbor has moved on but his replacement, after aerating his own yard, asked if we would like ours done also. He did a great job for a fraction of the cost of the professionals!

Then there’s Steve, next door, who took care of all the lawn between our two driveways and rolled the garbage can back up the hill to the house if he saw that we hadn’t been able to manage it. He moved away and rented to Randy who set up my new computer for me and is there at a moment’s notice when I have a tech problem.

On the other side we have Bobby who, one day shortly after we moved in, heard my husband unsuccessfully trying to start the lawn mower, strolled over to see if he could help. Not only did he clean the spark plug, he installed a new filter that he just happened to have. He’s quiet and kind of shy but he’s always there when we need him, which seems to be more and more as the years roll by.

These are simply a few examples of the caring individuals among whom we reside. They keep their eye on us and I know I could run to any adjacent house if I encountered some kind of emergency. The best thing is, these are people we don’t have to ask for help, they see a need and address it. The neighborhood may have changed  - but the neighborliness has not.