Community

     With each day that passes in our new house we become more and more fond of our neighborhood as well as the people who live in it.  We often find ourselves telling each other, usually after a walk, how we can't get over how special it is.  I think in just over a month we've already taken the dogs for a walk more than we have in any other neighborhood we've been in!  With all the positives of our neighborhood though there still were some questions we had about some of the neighbors, mostly our next door neighbor who we haven't seen leave the house. 
     All of our questions were answered yesterday as while returning from a walk with the dogs we got to meet the most important lady in the neighborhood, Irene.  She lives across the street and a few houses down and she is just the person we needed to meet to find out anything we needed to know, whether it was about neighbors, pets, or kids, Irene had the answer!  Every neighborhood has that little old lady who seems to know every ones dirty little secrets and we just met ours. 
     I always get a kick out of neighbors like her because they have a very good way of reminding us just how small this world is we live in!  When Kelli and I moved over here we came from a town we considered a city with 45,000 people, to a real city with a lot more! People like Irene always remind us that no matter how big this town is it's still a small world, and many of our communities are still very tightly knit.
     This has been proven in a very tragic way this week in the town of Moore, Oklahoma.  A devastating tornado swept through there on Monday afternoon taking many lives with it and leaving a massive path of destruction!  All of the news there is coverage of catastrophe and among all of the stories of tragedy there is one common positive theme, good ol fashioned neighborly support!  I know at times it seems as though this is a lost art, but if you've watched the news at all you've seen one of the best examples of it you ever will!  Our thoughts and prayers have been with those affected by the disaster in OK and we know that through neighborly support and determination they will rebuild and recover from the events that have brought their town to it's knees temporarily.

Remember, be kind and courteous to your neighbors as you just never know when you may need their support!