Potluck

Last night we celebrated my neighbors 86th birthday with a potluck at my house. I grew up in the house I now live in, although it has been updated from the 60's with a few modern features! I bought it from my parents who supervised the building of it when my mom was pregnant with me. I am now 44 years old!

We live on a culd-e-sac with 12 houses. They were built in 1963, and my parents bought it in the $30,000 dollar range. Houses in my tract are now going for 6 figures. It makes no sense.

Six of the 12 houses are still occupied by the original owners. The parents of my friends that used to make Halloween cupcakes for each of the 14 kids on the block, take turns watching us play kick the can past dark, and repair all the broken windows smashed by flying baseballs came over last night to celebrate an old friend.

They came with their potluck dishes and stories of my now grown friends and their babies. The new kids on the block swam in the backyard, the moms now my age watched the kids and shared stories, dads BBQ'd and drank beer, and the older crowd sat around swapping stories of "how it used to be".

It was a wonderful night filled with food, laughter, and memories shared. We have all decided to potluck every couple of months. We marveled that we could all live on the same street, and yet we wave hello and goodbye with little more than that.

I encourage you to throw a potluck for your neighbors.

Reconnect
Get to know someone new
Create traditions