Love Your Neighbor

Eighteen months ago, we got an email we had greatly anticipated. We had just been approved by the Neighbor Program to be matched with a foster family.

Our car pulled out of the driveway one bright sunny August day. It might as well have been the holiday season with the audible merriment and laughter coming from our car as we drove the two miles that separated our home from our matched family’s house. Every hand was full of bags and hot pans as we made our way to an unfamiliar front porch.

With smiles, cheer, and laughter, we were instantly friends, and no one knew we were complete strangers only a moment ago. After a short time and before the food got cold, we left empty-handed and returned home with fuller hearts than before.

In the Neighbor Program, our main volunteer commitment is to bring the family one meal once a month, for six months. (This is, of course, after we passed a background check and 1-hour training.) We loved that we could add more to this monthly rotation, making it personal to their needs and our abilities.

What else did we do with the family? In October, we went trick-or-treating together. In November, we did all their Thanksgiving baking for them. In December, we went to our small-town Christmas parade together, and closer to Christmas, we bought all the kids gift certificates to a local coffee shop and holiday cookies. In February, we dropped off sugar cookies, frosting, and decorations with their meal and did the same for Easter. 

By this time, we had truly adopted this family. We were far beyond the six-month agreement with the Neighbor Program, and our relationship had become a devoted friendship. Finally, in July, we hosted an un-birthday party for them because we had missed everyone’s birthday that year. Our un-birthday party came with dinner, cake, decorations, and a gift certificate to the local Kids Zone arcade. Sadly for us and happily for the kids in that foster family, it also became our farewell gift because the kids were going back home to their mom. 

And what did we get from our year together? A lot of laughter, a lot of tears, both happy and sad, lots of photos of the kids enjoying our meals and cookies, and a lot of smiles that I will never forget. They know that although our paths have gone in different directions now, they will never forget that a family still loves them. A little piece of us will always go with them. 

What are my regrets? Well, I didn’t do everything I had planned for the family. Also, I worry that our paths may not cross again. But one thing is for certain: I have no regrets about giving them my time.

By Trudy Wakefield, originally published in The Bloom 

To become a Neighbor click here or email [email protected]