Every now and then I am reminded of what real community feels like. After snow fell all night Friday and Saturday, I awoke to find my neighbors, Mark and Tony, spending their Sunday morning digging cars and sidewalks out of the snow. When I expressed a need for my car to be rescued, they, without hesitation, ventured a whole street over, dug my stranded car out of the snow, drove it up our very steep street and parked it in Mark’s driveway because mine was still covered with snow. Chikesha, a lovely young woman who just moved to the community, was one of the beneficiaries of Mark and Tony’s generosity, and she immediately extended herself by offering to pick up anything that the rest of us might need while she was out running errands. I came up with the idea that I would repay everyone’s generosity by giving the gift of food prepared by my own hands and so I submitted to Chikesha a list of two items—2 dozen eggs and 2 containers of Simple Orange orange juice. Meanwhile, my spirited younger daughter ventured to dig snow with the men and later informed me that another gentleman who lived in a house near where my car had been stranded volunteered to help Mark and Tony dig my car out of the snow in exchange for the two of them helping him dig his car out of the snow. While the men rejected my initial offer of money for their services, they came over for a magnificent, mostly-vegan spread of salmon croquettes, angel flake biscuits, cinnamon rolls, stewed apples, scrambled tofu, grits and mimosas. We had a wonderful fellowship. In the process I was reminded that this is the stuff of which real community is made! What a wonderful gift to have!
