Neighborhood Niceties: Using Our Freedom to Foster Community Connections

Neighbors can be more than just the people who live next door.

Neighbors who treat each other like family are rare but precious. Biba Kayewich

My entire family was invited to a graduation party over the weekend. Such an invitation is nothing out of the ordinary; what made this invitation unique was that the graduate was a third-generation member of a long-standing friendship—his grandparents were neighbors of my parents for more than 40 years.

This invitation would naturally seem rather strange to the casual observer—a coattail acquaintance, if you will, out of whom the graduate was simply trying to squeeze another gift.