My Neighbor's Yard

It was starting to look like an abandoned house.

Day by day I noticed that my next door neighbor's yard was growing more weeds than grass. Some of the weeds were several feet tall and seemed to be everywhere. The shrubs were overgrown and long vines were winding their way around everything. Even the walkway to the front door was disappearing in the maze of neglected yard.

We have a very friendly neighborhood, but this particular woman did not seem to be around much and hadn't really gotten to know the rest of us. Her husband had passed away 5 or 6 years earlier and her son was now grown, married, and living away from home.

So, the neighbors began to talk about "the yard" and how awful it was looking. We all surmised that maybe she was away for the summer...but, some had noticed her bedroom lights on late at night.

What to do?

I finally decided to try and contact her by leaving a short note in her mailbox merely asking if everything was okay with her....and, if there was anything that I could do to help.

Days went by and I never heard back until one late night when I received a phone call from my neighbor. We talked for over an hour as she caught me up with what was going on in her life. She was working full time and had come to the realization that she needed to put her house on the market...but wasn't able to do what was needed on her own. It was then that I realized that this ignored yard was really a "cry for help".

We talked back and forth until I felt comfortable asking her if she would mind if I got some of the neighbors together to work in her yard. She gratefully said, "That would be wonderful."

So, I got in touch with the four neighbors who lived closest and told them of my plan. The ones that could would show up on Sunday at 1:30 to help out.

Yesterday afternoon arrived hot and muggy....even though we had gotten accustomed to several days in a row of torrential rain...this day the sun was actually shining. Dave and I walked over to my neighbor's home to get started.

No one else was there.

As my neighbor and her son came out of her house, and before I could get too disheartened, a couple of people made their way over to her yard. As we got started pulling the huge weeds...I looked up and coming towards us were people from all over the neighborhood...

One couple came with their two children...my 81 year old neighbor came with his weed-eater in hand ready to work. The neighbor on the other side walked over with his lawn mower. The couple across the street came with shrub hedgers. Suddenly I spotted a gentleman from way up the street coming down to see what he could do and what equipment was needed.

As if my heart wasn't filled enough...I looked up to see an elderly man from several houses away making his way down the street on his riding lawn mover. Another neighbor came riding over on his and we were ready to take on this project together!

It was truly a labor of love as we all worked for a couple of hours cleaning, pruning, blowing, edging, mowing, etc. etc. The yard was beginning to look well taken care of...

Dripping wet (and itching from some possible poison ivy!)...we all smiled and chatted as we came together to help our neighbor.

It was a wonderful sight to see...and, one that I will never forget....

"There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up." (John Andrew Holmes)