When neighbors become family…..

last year

Many of you know the story of the Sprites and their caregiver grandfather, our neighbor. Several years ago, these two little girls wheedled their way into our lives and hearts…..long story, but we are now a community of five, with all of the legal rights required to raise two girls.

Our across the street neighbors, a young professional couple, have become good friends….we help each other out. He took my husband to the surgery center recently, stayed with him, and brought him home to me, just for example. Her mother comes to stay with their blind and deaf dog whenever they have to go out of town and we sort of keep an eyeball on the mother when she’s here. Not that she needs it but appreciates that we are watching out for her.

Another much loved neighbor has recently contracted kidney cancer. Her adult children are near and are a huge support, and we add our support to theirs. Healthful foods, good company, joy rides to the country, a bit of wine over our backyard fire. In the past, her son took over our lawn care when my husband had his hip replacement. He came to my husband for comfort when his Dad died.

Our other next door neighbor, a young bachelor, was jilted by his fiancee not long ago and was grief stricken. The Sprites were heartbroken for him and smothered him with cookies and pies and handdrawn artwork, until he was all smiles again. I expect that there was some bad mouthing of the ex involved when they went to visit.

All of this came to mind when the recipe of the white chicken chile was posted. My very first thought was that it would be a welcomed treat for these family members, my neighbors.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
Original Author

last year

You are all very kind. This post originated out of a thoughtful, almost pensive mood. We are very fortunate to have landed where we did and it has been gratifying to be surrounded by people who have learned to care about each other.

Oh, those girls are something else. Remember, I am childless by choice and was originally kind of scared of these little, nearly feral urchins. I had them ’trained’ to stay out of our yard unless invited so they would stand with their toes on an imaginary property line until I would relent. They were soon in our hearts, never to leave.

They are funny, independent, fiercely protective of anyone who is being bullied. They still remember their very miserable earliest years and use it as a source of strength now, rather than fear or dread.

Oh, there are hormones now. Sigh.

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Comments (15)

Lulu
last year
I wish we had neightbours like you!
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked Lulu
Uptown Gal
last year
I used to have neighbors like yours, but over the last few years, 4 have moved away.

2 families moved to be closer to their kids, and a couple just downsized and didn't

want to be homeowners and moved into condos. I miss them. I have new neighbors,

but all but one are young and just starting out with little ones. What goes around

comes around...the story of Life. ;) It is nice seeing the little ones around again,

but still miss the old neighbors.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked Uptown Gal
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blfenton
last year
What a great community you and your neighbours have created. A great example of caring for both the Sprites and all the other young people who are a part of it.

The Sprites must be young ladies by now.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked blfenton
stacey_mb
last year
Thank you, Rhizo, for your lovely descriptions of your neighbors. It's heartwarming to hear of people lending a helping hand.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked stacey_mb
Jasdip
last year
I love this!!! Neighbours are everything, and it's not easy getting to know some when everyone's lives are so busy. I have a couple of friends, who are on my street who I can ask for help when needed, and of course I help them.

I've always loved hearing your stories of your little sprites, they brought such a smile on my face and looked forward to your renderings.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked Jasdip
Elmer J Fudd
last year
last modified: last year
It sounds like circumstances have serendipitously provided you and the others a wonderful and loving environment with one another enhancing your life experiences.

I suspect such circumstantial opportunities are rare and depend on the attitudes and desires of those potentially involved to either make it work or not. I've always worked to make it clear that I want to have cordial and reliable relationships with my neighbors and that's usually recognized and returned in kind. But anything beyond waving when walking or driving past, in the ordinary course of a day, is enough socializing for me in all but a few limited instances.

In your case, rhizo, you've developed deep relationships over the years with people welcoming same - nothing better than that. That's better than family relationships in my mind because each neighbor has made a choice, it's not an obligation. Congrats.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked Elmer J Fudd
lindaohnowga
last year
What wonderful people you have in your neighborhood, Rhizo. We should all be so fortunate. Continue to love those sprites, as I know you will.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked lindaohnowga
yeonassky
last year
I hope to someday have someone say that I was a good neighbour. I try. I'm very glad that you have a good neighbourhood!
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked yeonassky
eld6161
last year
last modified: last year
What a lovely post.

After getting to know you all these years, I suspect though, it all revolves because of you, Rhizo.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked eld6161
OutsidePlaying
last year
Rhizo, you and your DH are lucky to be in such a wonderful neighborhood. I’m happy to hear about The Sprites and that they are thriving.

Our neighborhood is spread out and almost as good. We just don’t have many little ones around.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked OutsidePlaying
Jasdip
last year
last modified: last year
Rhizo, my heart swells reading of your episodes with them. I got my tubes tied when I was 22, and tbh I've yet to meet to meet a kid I want to spend any time around; I literally cringe. :-)

I don't have any maternal bones (except for animals.....I want to adopt them all!).

The love was quick to go both ways for you and the urchins/sprites. They are lucky to have you and Robert (and that their grandfather was able to take them in).
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked Jasdip
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
last year
Jasdip - that's me in a nutshell.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked seagrass_gw Cape Cod
whistle_b
last year
Oh, Rhizo. Thanks for sharing this. I so love your stories about the sprites.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7 thanked whistle_b
claudia valentine
last year
oh, gawd! my neighbor is an old a=hole who hates everyone that is not white and right wing and he wants to kill us. He calls us rats that need to be eliminated. He is a scary, crazy hateful man with no friends and even his own wife and grown son and family members dont want to be around him.

He is a sick puppy, a threat and a big pile of poop in my life everyday. Just nasty, hateful, ignorant, and just downright mean. It must suck to wake up every morning and be him. Now he has joined one of those hateful militia groups and goes out wearing camo and probably somewhere to take pot shoots at images of left wing celebrities.

He is a sick and scary puppy, for sure.

On nice days he makes smokey fires in his yard so as to envelope our house, yard and deck in smoke. He threatens service people that we have come to do things for us and I have known him to take a drill to the tires of some unwitting someone who dares to park on the street in a place that he thinks is his.

The truth is that he is an ineffectual man with no authority and very poor self esteem .His only strength is to denigrate others and do dastardly things in the dark of night. I have had ot put up security cameras just because of him. He is the most objectionable person I have ever know in my long life. He actually bragged about how he was armed against the young children of the Iraqi family that use to live next door.

He even threatened to kill his one and only child if he found that he is gay. The truth is that the young man is quite gay, as it turns out. He never carried out his threat, obviously. I feel sorry for this young man as he has graduated college and has become an INCEL living at home and still looking for his fathers love or acceptance. The son does not know the drunken threats that his father made against him and I have seen his father denigrate him awfully.

For decades he was a drunkard hanging out with a "friend" up the street.

Last summer he was out in the back yard yelling the most obscene names at me over the fence, as I was sitting minding my own business on the back porch. He is crazy enough to be downright scary. If I had called the police it would have been my word against his. He stops just short of being outside the law.

He is delusional and crazed.

We are just the elderly folks next door and we keep to ourselves and have absolutley zero to do with anything in his life or his yard. He picks on us because he is a coward and a man of no account.

We have been neighbors for at least 20 years and even though he has been an objectionable character, he only became a real aggressive threat to us as the political dysfunction has grown. He is definetly feeds off THAT side of the political divide. He is suffocating his very soul under all that hate and anger and he plans to make the world pay for it.

When neighbors become family…..

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
Original Author

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When neighbors become family…..

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
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