The lazy days of warmer weather brought almost every
neighbor outside; the adults would settle down on their stoop, or porch, as we
called it. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a neighborhood of
porch-sitters. The Dyer, Simmet, Ungren, Manino, King, and Sumner families along with my parents, would holler across the street - Hi there, how are
the kids? - Do you have a cup of sugar I can borrow? - Did you read The
Onlooker this morning? Tommy can’t come out to play, he has a tummy ache.
Us kids would congregate on the porch and plan our
evening fun of outdoor games such as One O’clock, No Ghost, Hide 'n
Seek, Red Rover. A countdown would begin as we surrounded the porch: 1, 2,
3, 4, 5 – as we frantically took off to hide in any of the neighbor's
yards. This was allowed back then. Parents would sit and visit on
the porch while the kids played. Hours passed when the dreaded street lights came
on--shortly followed by porch lights flicking on and off--calling us to our
homes and signaling the end of our outdoor fun.
A disaster, death, illness, wedding, baptism - any and all events
- would bring the adults to their porches hollering congratulations or to call
out sympathies – publicly and without embarrassment. Mornings would find
the adults sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee and toast, in our family
it was Hardtack or Trenary Toast with peanut butter, and the local newspaper. Simple
elegance and a familiar connection to each other. Neighbors caring for
neighbors … united.
As an adult, I can’t help but reminisce as I wander around looking
at our town’s porches. Over these years, sadly, have noticed a difference in
neighborhoods with parents too busy to sit outside, few if any kids playing in
the yards, and goodness gracious if you called out a greeting to a new
homeowner – expect the look. It felt as if we had we lost our sense of unity
and caring for each other.
Then, THE PANDEMIC COVID-19 hit – the Coronavirus struck the world.
We were told to “shelter in place” – stay home, you can walk but keep
6 feet from others, wash any groceries; toilet paper became a commodity along
with hand sanitizer. Now we are admonished to wear masks when outside. An
extreme sense of dread has visited the planet – we’re all scared, cautious, and,
in many cases, pulling together.
As we sit on our porches or stoops, walkers’ wave, smile;
neighbors are calling out to each other – Hi, there, is everything okay? Do you
need anything? How are the kids doing? Where’d you get that mask – it’s cute.
I hear families playing in the alleyway and in backyards. Community members are
spending time in their yards, on their porches, kicking a ball around. People
are sending cards and calling neighbors and families to check on them, doing
puzzles and playing board games. The warmer days are bringing families walking
past our house – waving toward our window if we are inside. Stories of people
parked in their cars clapping in thanks as our health care workers enter and
leave the workplace. Individuals and groups are gathering around tables making
masks for doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, and now for each other. People
are calling restaurants to deliver meals to our essential medical and emergency
personnel.
Planet Earth’s residents are uniting through this horrible,
terrible, rotten pandemic. I guess we do need each other. Neighbors caring for
neighbors … united.
