Dear “The Girls,”
We can’t remember your names. Sorry. You did introduce yourselves, so we should have remembered them, but truth be told we were kind of a mess when we moved in here and details got lost. So we call you “the girls.” As in, “Remember how great it was when the girls lived across the street?”
Since you left, it hasn’t been the same. Sure, back in 2010 I walked across the street to ask if any of the new gals living in “your” house had a few extra feminine hygeine products, and that worked out okay, but really that’s been the bright spot. These days it’s more of a “loud noises at 2am, call the cops because people are fighting” kind of thing over there.
Why did you leave?
Did all the good times just not matter?
Remember when you had a party, and you brought all the neighbors index cards with your contact information, and asked you to let us know if the noise was too much? We didn’t hear anything. And remember that time you had a big desk you were done with so you asked if we wanted it? You knew we had just moved in and might not have all our furniture yet.
And who could forget our first few hectic move-in days, when Best Buy was essentially refusing to deliver our refrigerator, and we were storing our cold food outside on the deck in the ice? I was scared that our frozen wedding cake top wouldn’t survive. C-Man talked to you, and you put it in your freezer, with a little note:
Writing this letter, I’m realizing this whole thing might be our fault. What did we ever do for you? All take and no give doesn’t make a relationship work.
But I promise that we can learn from our mistakes!
Can you come back and we’ll try again?
All the best,
The People Across The Street
I can relate don’t you hate when you lose good neighbors we had some good ones who use to help me babysit my kids and give me a break often since I had no one around and then she moved I swear a tear dropped. The people who got their house ……..I have nothing nice to say so I won’t.
Growing up I lived in the same house for years. It wasn’t just my neighbors but the whole street made friends. Towards the end of High School my mom decided to move. We lived in the same town but a different neighborhood. It just wasn’t the same as it was in the old neighborhood. I’ve gone back some and the leaves have fallen many times over and the houses have changed but my fondest memories will always be sittin’ out with my neighborhors.
I’ve been the neighbor who moved away, chances are they miss The People Across the Street just as much as you miss them.
Being that I live in south Florida and we regularly get hurricanes which knock out power for a while, thats usually the only time you see neighbors out talking to one another. Kind of sad.
Reading your letter has inspired me to say hi and introduce myself to my neighbors, thank you for sharing!
Our little neighborhood is friendly and we are all terrified when one of us moves away and a house comes up for sale. I’m sorry about your new neighbors.
I am sorry to say that we had an “egg boy” in our neighborhood. He came to borrow one egg with a note from his mom. He seemed embarrassed handing over the note, then taking the lone egg, and we forever referred to him as Egg Boy.
Lawsy…
This is too funny! I’ve had both amazing neighbors and neighbors that were nothing but a headache, so I can totally relate to missing the good ones!!
Thanks to everyone who commented! I was kind of joking around when I wrote the post, but both writing it and reading your comments has really left me thinking that I could be doing more to get to know people. We have an elderly couple across the street the other way (we live on the corner) and it took us 6 years before I handed them our business cards with our full names and cell phone numbers, in case they needed anything. Surely I can do better?
(Patti, I have a feeling that I may be known as “Maxipad Girl” like in your Egg Boy story, thankfully those people have also moved away!)
You never no what you got till it’s gone!