Finally! A Great Neighbor!
"Goodness is the only investment that never fails." -- Henry David Thoreau
A few days ago, a family moved into the home next to ours, and as I walked to get the mail, I ran into the father. They will be the third family to occupy this home, and the first two have been so-so.
What do I mean by so-so?
In the first situation, an elderly lady lived there with her two grown boys. When I say grown, I mean they were in their 30s. While the lady tried her best to be approachable, the boys were another thing. For example, one of them called the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) on us when he claimed one of our cars was blocking their driveway.
He calculated that our car was encroaching at least one foot onto their driveway.
I still remember speaking to the SAPD officer, and he said to me privately, “Yeah … not a good neighbor! I’m sorry you have to go through this … do your best to stay on your side.”
This family moved out when the elderly lady passed away from Covid.
The second family lived there for about 5 years, and in that time, we probably spoke no more than five minutes to them, and that is on the high side.
Third Family
We are now coming into year 23 of living in our home, and it’s time for the third neighbors.
I mentioned that I met the father, and his name is Sunny. He and his wife will soon occupy the home with their two girls.
From my conversation with Sunny, I can tell we will finally have great neighbors, and I base this assumption on what I heard from him …
“Sir … When we first drove down the street, my wife thought our home was actually the one where you live. We just love your home!”
“We moved from India to the States about 20 years ago, and we’ve been in San Antonio for about nine years. We love the city, the culture, and the friendly people!”
“We are in our 40s, and this is our first home. The seller would not budge on the price, and we didn’t want to lose the opportunity to live in this neighborhood, so we paid the asking price.”
There is something about Sunny in the short time I chatted with him that impressed me …
First, he was approachable.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, I could tell he was an honest and humble person.
Beautiful Experience
My hope is that Sunny and his family will occupy the home for as long as possible. Once they move in and get settled, my wife and I plan to ask their family to join us for a meal. In fact, I made it a point to ask my wife Dulce to come and meet Sunny before he left.
My conversation with Sunny reminded me that the beautiful things in life begin with an act of kindness. On the day we met, I made sure to greet Sunny with a handshake and a smile, and I let him know we were excited to have them as neighbors.
When we were about to part ways, Sunny looked directly into my eyes and said …
“Meeting you and your wife today gives me comfort that God wants my family to be here!”
See you next week, my friends!
Closing Quotes
"The best way to deal with a neighbor is to be a good neighbor." – Mr. Rogers
"I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." -- Maya Angelou
Homework Inquiry
During the next week, here’s your homework inquiry: How will you be a great neighbor?
I use this opportunity to share with you a unique story and a couple inspiring quotes. Oh ... as a professor at heart, you guessed it, I have a homework inquiry for you. This is a powerful question that might just trigger you to take action on something that really matters in your life. If you feel the Catalyst Newsletter brings benefit to you.