Paying Forward
Today Becca's dad Dick is busy
rebuilding The Girls' back fence. Dick also restores vintage cars in the garage
next to Becca and Todd's house. The Girls' daughter is Kady, who tracked down
the "neighborhood" crutches for me recently when I injured myself on
my bike. Turns out they were at Wendy the Amazing Dog Walker's house. Wendy
walks our dog Amazing Gracie. Gracie fetches the ball over and over for ten-month-old
Oscar who giggles uncontrollably. Oscar lives next door with his mom and dad
Robin and Ryan whose house is between Todd and Becca's and ours.
The "Girls" are Zara and
Rebekah (not to be confused with Becca), moms of Kady and also of two-year-old
adorable Natasha for whom Gracie also retrieves the ball. (Dog owners know it's
all about the ball.) They are also caring for Raya, age two months, placed with
them as temporary foster parents right from the hospital. They are saints!
Foster parenting is also how Kady, the crutch-finder, and Natasha came to live
with Zara and Rebekah.
While Dick worked on the fence,
Robin and son Oscar were over visiting two-month-old Cora, the newest addition
to our neighborhood and the daughter of Jill and Joel who live across our
lively alley from us. Jill and I tend our gardens and compare notes - when I'm
not laid up, that is. Joel fishes and brings us Dungeness crab in season, and
Jill, a working mom, grows flowers commercially as a sideline.
My wife Cherie transports Kady to
swim team and back when Rebekah, who works at the University, needs their car.
Rebekah completely repainted their two-story home, by herself mostly. It's
beautiful. Neighbors also borrow Cherie's truck for Clean Green runs.
Kady's job on Fridays is to come
over and throw the ball for, who else, Gracie. The very special Miss Kady, 14,
is also the neighborhood listening post. Someone has a new rabbit? Got rid of
their chickens, owns the rooster that crows all day? Someone needed stitches
(Todd and Becca's daughter Chloe)? The name of the new neighbor? Who went where
last weekend? Just ask Kady.
The other day when I hobbled back
from the doctor's office, Oscar's dad Ryan saw me and helped me up the front
stairs. He helped Cherie move my bed around so it'd be more comfortable while I
recuperate. Ryan is from Boston
Everyone helps. Someone's lawn needs
mowing in a pinch, weeds need whacking, kids need watching -- it gets done.
Next door on the other side of our
house -- the other side from Ryan, Robin, and Oscar -- lives Maureen. She works
as a pastry chef and brings us goodies. She's been our neighbor for years. She home
schooled her two kids who are off and gone, and helps keep an eye on our house
when we're away. I studied up this spring and learned how to prune her
forsythia.
Todd's the acknowledged
"mayor"; Becca is a gardener par excellence; son Nate is the
designated knit-cap-wearing, skateboarding teenager -- the friendly kind;
daughter Chloe helped Kady and me rebuild my garden lean-to. My shed is unlocked
and available for tool borrowing 24/7.
Last Labor Day, we hosted a
back-alley barbecue. Todd, Becca, son Nate, daughter Chloe, Grandpa Dick,
Robin, Ryan, brand-new Oscar, Maureen, Joel, Jill, brand-newer Cora, Zara, Rebekah,
Kady, Natasha, and Zara's mom, and Wendy and her hubby and two kids (classmates
and friends of Todd and Becca's family) noshed food everyone had brought and
chatted in a perfect, warm Bellingham afternoon. We ate a ton of pico de gallo I made from our tomatoes
and ate one of Maureen's desserts.
Everyone's seen the ad on TV where
the boy helps the lady across the busy street after someone returns to the boy
something he dropped, that person who earlier needed help carrying groceries to
the car, and so on.
We pay forward a lot around here. Dick
finished the fence, and I'm very glad I finally got rid of the blasted crutches!
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