I first want to say that I appreciate the hard work required to make these forums available. I understand the time and effort required to keep the bits and bytes flowing and I offer a big THANK YOU to everyone involved.
I enjoy our community just the way it is. As with any neighborhood, you get folks who move in for awhile and then move out. Others like it well enough to stay and we have the opportunity to get to know them a little better. Others drive through and don’t even bother stopping because they don’t like what they see. Some neighbors talk all the time and others just give a friendly wave now and then. I’m OK with all of that.
What’s really important, if you’ll allow me to extend the metaphor, is that we are all neighbors. We don’t always agree, we don’t keep our yards the same, some of us play our music a little too loudly, and others won’t pick-up after the dog takes a walk. None of that matters because we care about each other as neighbors should.
We share the good stuff… and we are comfortable enough to share the bad stuff. We get excited when someone brings home a new toy and we also take the time to say a prayer when a friend needs support. And the best thing about our neighborhood is that the longer we stay the stronger our friendships become.
It’s always nice when new folks move in and become good neighbors but it should happen naturally. It should happen because they like what they see and they feel that they can be comfortable sharing a little bit of themselves with the rest of us. It’s our responsibility to give the newcomers a chance… to listen with open minds and to respond respectfully. It will be evident soon enough if the “fit” isn’t quite right and they’ll move on.
Let others judge us for what they should see as our greatest strengths… honesty, respect, humor, insightfulness, experience, and camaraderie.