Neighbor
Folks, let’s just call it what it is.
We’ve all seen it over the past 12+ days but we’ve given it some pretty highfalutin terms: neighborly, friendly, prudent, helpful, kindness, outreach, responsibility, etc. And there are all those examples: a family chainsawing a neighbor’s tree all the while knowing their roof was ruined by the storm just so everyone else would be able to have an open road through town; a block or residents deciding to have pot luck dinners where those with power cooked the food of those without so everyone would have company through the darkness and use food instead of letting it go bad; a man who went to drop off food to a senior citizen who lived by himself and realized he could not leave him in the dark and cold and drove him personally to a community shelter; a family who gave up precious fridge space to maintain life-saving medicine for another family who had lost power; a woman who had her own parent to care for but went out of her way to make sure her neighbors, who were elderly, could get something to eat and to help them stay warm; a family who gave their portable power battery so phones could be charged and lights could be on; people who said “If there’s anything you need, just let me know” and really meant it.
All without fanfare, all without credit, all without asking for something in return. And these examples are just scratching the surface of what was done. To be sure there were those who used this time to reveal the less-than-graceful attributes of our better nature but there will always be those people. Just realize that for every one of those, there are more than twice that number who make us realize our humanity.
So, let’s just call it what it is.
Love.
Sure, it isn’t that end-of-the-movie dramatic display of love but it is love nonetheless. It added to who we are as a person, it revealed what we can be, and it put into action the words we learned at one point or another, in one form or another, ‘love thy neighbor’.
So, with that I offer a speech which puts into better words what I feel about our town. When you hear it, just know that Roselle Park is our arrivals gate.