When we first moved back to the Dayton area, we found a home on a quiet street in Centerville. We knew the people who lived next door, but a few months after we moved in, their house went up for sale and another couple moved in. We were friendly with the rest of the people on the block but didn’t truly know anyone.
Fortunately, all of that changed.
A mutual friend asked us for house recommendations in our neighborhood. It just so happened we had a family friend selling a home down the street. We put the two people in contact and we soon had more new neighbors!
We started talking with the couple next door when we’d see them out and then invited them over for dinner. We had great conversation and made a promise to spend time together again.
We started meeting up with both sets of neighbors. We learned more about each other. The guys even formed a little running club. We sat around fire pits and had cocktails.
I am so grateful that we became more than neighbors, and started to be friends.
We planned girls’ nights and game nights. We’ve never gone out to dinner, a ball game, or anything outside of our three homes, but that hasn’t mattered.
We now all text almost daily. The girls have a group text, and the boys have one of their own. We celebrate each other’s successes. This will be an exciting summer for the group – one couple is having a baby and the other is getting married. My family is not doing anything exciting, but we’re so excited to celebrate with everyone else! We give each other recommendations and we problem-solve together.
I am truly not sure what I would do without these neighbors. We haven’t even known them quite a year, but they have become such important parts of our lives. They’re always there when we need them. They even babysit our kids!
If you don’t know your neighbors very well, I recommend you work to change that. You don’t know what you could be missing out on!
