Neighboring

In his opinion column for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman used the term “neighboring” to describe the Minnesotans whose kindness to each other is inspiring. Their neighboring took children to school, bought groceries, provided safe places to sleep, paid rent—and the list goes on.

A couple of years ago, when I fell and broke my hip, my neighbor arrived about the same time as EMT. She took my dog to care for him until I could make other arrangements. In the days and months following, she wheeled my trash cans up and down my long driveway. I didn’t ask her to do that; in the beginning, she anticipated my needs and then kept it up long after the need had passed—because she was neighboring.

I realize these two examples differ in magnitude. The first is high risk behavior on behalf of another one’s safety; the second, not. Nevertheless, the principle remains and begs the question, “To what extent are you there for others?”

You write it: Do you have someone who neighbors? Do you?