A Commitment to Community

My wife Jennifer has a singular commitment to community. I realized this early in our relationship when I discovered that she’s the kind of person who would volunteer to drive a neighbor to the airport.

Today we live in an unusually neighborly neighborhood. There’s a homeowners’ association that organizes well-attended social events throughout the year, and when someone is severely ill, neighbors will cook meals for the family to help take the pressure off. But even here Jennifer stands out when it comes to bringing people together.

When we moved into our house a few years ago and discovered that none of the restaurants in our little burg serve alcohol, Jennifer had the idea of hosting a neighborhood cocktail party every month. Before the pandemic interrupted our streak this spring, we had done that 61 months in a row.

When a new family moves into the neighborhood, Jennifer puts a letter in their mailbox introducing herself and telling them everything they might want to know about the neighborhood they’ve just moved into. And if we learn that a neighbor is dealing with any of life’s disruptions or difficulties, where my inclination is to say “good luck,” Jennifer says “let me know if there’s anything you need.”

So with the 4^th of July approaching, Jennifer started thinking about how we could get the neighborhood together without putting anyone at risk from the coronavirus. She ended up emailing everyone and inviting them to take a walk around the block between 6:30 and 7:30pm on Saturday so we could all see and talk with each other while also keeping our distance. Anyone who doesn’t want to walk, she suggested, could sit in their front yard and chat with people as they go by.

You never know how much uptake something like this will get, but the chances are good that at least some of our neighbors will see each other on Saturday for the first time in months.

Experts say that community — being connected to and interdependent with other people — is key to our emotional well-being. But even those who understand that don’t always work to make it happen. I’m lucky to be married to someone who does.