seven.

My friend Becky grew up in a neighborhood that many people considered Pleasantville. Everyone knew everyone. Everyone liked everyone. And people were in and out of your home like it was nothing. The whole street was just one big family. I was always envious of that.

I had cray cray neighbors. On the right of us were these folks who always had stern looks on their faces, kept to themselves, and the only time you'd ever hear a peep from them was when they lost their cat and would yell repeatedly out of their back door "Here Kitty!" until the wife would lose her voice or the cat would get so annoyed by her that he'd just give in and come back temporarily.

To the left of us we had a couple that in the beginning we thought would be good neighbors. The wife would give me and my brother those sour cherry balls in baggies through the fence...only they were blueberry flavored...and as a kid, how cool was that? Free candy.

But then as time progressed things just went south. They were not the kindest people and I'm pretty sure I had nightmares about the mean man next door. And also I started to believe that those blue candies were poisoned and I was dying a slow death.

Needless to say, we weren't necessarily in Pleasantville.

Then my family moved out to Waterloo, Illinois. A beautiful big yellow house on a large, serene piece of land. The no neighbor thing was kind of nice. You had space. You could go in the front yard to let out the beagle in your underwear and a t-shirt and no one would care. Because you were the only one there.

You adjusted to the distance of your neighbors. They'd have to drive over to visit. I mean getting the mail was a trek in and of itself. But once I wished so badly that we had people living next door. I got locked out on the back deck. All alone at the house. No one would be back for hours. And here I was trapped on the deck, the cats staring at me from the inside like I was some kind of fool, and the dogs barking from a floor below. It was almost as if they were mocking me and I was mad at them because they were definitely not behaving in a manner like I had expected them to. This was a moment where I needed them to pull a Lassie stunt and go bark in someone's face until they said "Wait, what's that? Audrey's trapped on the deck?" But no. I stood out there for nearly 3 and a half hours until I managed to wiggle the door handle hard enough that the door came slightly off it's hinges and I was set free back into the home.

What am I getting at here? 

A good neighbor is appreciated. I could spend all my time waiting for my neighbors to reach out to me, but why not reach out to them? I just moved into a new home and my neighbor next door is a sweet, quiet older woman, who seems to value her family very much. And she gets a lot of phone calls. :)

I would love for her to know that she could count on me if need be. Even if she's run out of eggs.

But that's what neighbors are for.

So I'm glad today's challenge was what it was, because it enabled me to establish a relationship with my neighbor, with the small gift of chocolate cupcakes and a handwritten note.

A small token and extension of kindness, but sometimes that's all it takes.

This Christmas season, remember to be a good neighbor. You never know what it could do for someone.