No Hoarders Here

Since moving back to the Bend eight years ago, so many people have offered to help and have gone out of their way to enable Mother and me to live in the place she most desires to be.

                 Benders often illustrate thoughtfulness, unselfishness, and genuine concern. This did not change but only increased during the recent COVID-19 quarantine.

                My paternal grandma, Mamie Irene Tripp Gates, wrote during World War II to my father, Edmund Gates, Jr., of the thoughtfulness and helpfulness of her neighbor, Martha Ethel Christy White. When Joe and Ethel went to town, Ethel always found out what Grandma needed.

                Ethel’s neighborliness passed down to her granddaughter, Lisa White Crabtree, who is a neighbor of ours. Lisa enjoys her little hens and shares eggs with us. (A blog post featuring Lisa's maternal family in the Bend - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/07/miracles-at-little-house.html )

                Jim and Sharon Binkley have provided eggs for Mother and me, too. Mother appreciates farm fresh eggs since she had chickens for at least the first 50 years of her life. (A post about Jim and Sharon's neighborliness in the summer of 2019 - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2019/05/you-never-miss-water.html )

                Just as the “sheltering in place” policy was about to be activated in our state, another neighbor, Shelly Doshier, called while enroute to pick up groceries. Her question was, “What could we pick up for you and your mother?” Thankfully, I had made my own “run” to Fairfax for cattle feed, supplies and groceries. (A post with photos of Shelly's daughters -  https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2019/10/benders-are-still-shining-at-tulsa.html )

                That same week, I called Charlotte Hutchens checking on her and our oldest Bender, her husband, Hubert. The iconic Fun Club had a “drive-by” meeting the day before at her house, with Charlotte and her daughter, Cecilia, hosting distributing grab and go treat bags from their porch. (A post about Hubert's neighborliness - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/06/happy-birthday-to-oldest-man-in-big-bend.html )

As we visited, Charlotte related interesting blessings. Cecilia had gotten Charlotte and Hube the groceries they might need, except no eggs could be found. Charlotte ran into town to take our friend, Joan Higgins, one of the goody bags since she had missed the “drive-by” meeting of Fun Club. As Charlotte handed the bag to Joan, she related of her trip to the grocery store, saying she got all she needed but eggs. Joan, who loves her chickens, exclaimed immediately, “I have three dozen eggs for you.” Charlotte offered to share her eggs. ( A link to a post about Joan's encouragement to me -  https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2018/01/learning-from-tiny-black-hose.html

                       Mother retained notes from Connie Goad on the refrigerator. She offered and specified she would get anything we needed and even gave her cell phone number. Anything included notifying of a calf out and literally maneuvering it back through the fence with her mail mobile. Her daughter-in-law, Bailey Goad, emailed the very first week of “safer at home” with her offer to pick up any items we might need. (A link to a post about Connie and the iconic Belford Bridge over the Arkansas River, plus features Jayson and Tim Gates who have shown us "neighborliness" - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/09/only-in-country.html )

                Lauren Goad Graham and her family became the last mail stop on the west end of Big Bend Road when they moved to the Bend less than a year ago. Mother and I are always grateful for new residents with good character relocating to our community, so we rejoiced when they moved into their newly built home. Lauren called the second week of COVID-19 of the “safer at home” saga and volunteered to get any supplies for us. The one item I had been unable to buy was toilet tissue. Lauren procured one of the last packages for us. (Although I didn't mention her name, Lauren, inspired me to write this posting in 2017- https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/11/an-inspiring-christmas-list.html )

                When I began putting up groceries the day of the last March trip to Fairfax, I groaned upon realizing cranberry juice was absent from my grocery bags. Mother drinks it daily for kidney health. What a relief when our closest neighbor to the east, Vonda Goad, called within a week after the previous mentioned trip! On her trip to Pawnee, she found the last jug of cranberry juice. (This is a link to one of several of the postings on the neighborliness of Vonda and Greg - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-wheelbarrow-vs-tractor.html )

Vonda also began looking for toilet tissue for us when I had been unable to get any on my trip just before “sheltering in place” became the unwritten “law of the state.” Her concern for us entered her conversation with her sister, Brenda Bennett. Brenda kept our need in her mind and grabbed a package for us when she saw it on the shelf on a shopping trip of her own.

As a preteen, I read the highly recommended classic, Little Women. I distinctly recall being unimpressed with the chapter entitled “Being Neighborly.” Now I found myself pulling my 50-year-old copy of it off the shelf. I have finally reached the age to value the art of neighborliness.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, referred to the second portion of the royal law given by the Lord Jesus. In the preeminent, initial part Jesus emphasized the command to love God wholeheartedly. In the book of James, chapter 2, verse 8, we read,

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;

Prior to the Coronavirus Saga, I heard urban dwellers almost boast, "We don't even know our neighbors." It seemed to be a badge of honor to maintain a distance from those living closest to them.
              Yet caring about those living near seems to have come back in vogue. Just as Louisa May Alcott's Little Women endures as a perennial classic so does community comradery remain timeless.

I love this illustration of Josephine
March from the cover of my first
copy of  Little Women. 

             Neighborliness continues to be the royal law of the Bend. The way Mother and I love these dear neighbors back is by praying for them daily. The Bend way of sharing, caring and praying is a model for any community - rural or urban.