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Interesting timing, Sapiens. I had this conversation over dinner with my parents.
The nieghborhood I grew up in has grown apart a bit as folks moved away and new people moved in. There are folks that don't speak to certain other folks anymore because of issues real and imagined. Some of the dynamic personalities have moved away or died. My parents were saddened by it until they saw signs of younger neighbors starting to bond with each other. They think if that happens, the older folks will eventually be included. I hope so.
But my point in posting wasn't about a neighborhood I haven't lived in for 20 years. It's my current one. Two years ago, our plan was to live in our house for 10 years then upgrade a bit. We abandoned that plan about 3 months ago because we don't want to leave the neighborhood and our neighbors. There are 6 families with kids around 2 1/2 within 3 blocks, and we've gotten to know all of them at one level or another. There's one family, though, that we have gotten to know very well to the point that the adults now hang out sans kids. Yesterday Max was had a 2 hour-long meltdown (my parents were in town and basically ran him ragged) that only ended when we walked by Lucas's house on the way to the park and Lucas and his parents happened to be outside. Lucas gave Max a hug, and the tears slowed down and eventually stopped. Neither his parents nor his grandparents could end the crying, but Lucas could. And since Lucas is going to be a big brother within 2 weeks, either The_Wife or I will be called over to their house in the middle of the night sometime soon.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
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