Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 202
Good Neighbours Are Awesome
8/4/2009 at 9:56 AM
(sorry TLDR crowd, i dont know how to keep it short)
A couple weeks ago i trimmed a bunch of my trees, cutting low branches and dead wood alike, cleared out my yard really nicely.
Now, I dont have a truck, so my plans were to wait till the branches all dried thoroughly, cut them even smaller, then call a family member and take them away some lazy saturday.
This morning, i go outside to get in my car for work, and my neighbor (an older gentleman with a large truck) is silently packing them up for a run to the dump. No thanks required, wasn't even going to tell me he was doing it.
That's not the first time either. A few weeks ago, me and the family went out to do some shopping. We were gone for at least a few hours. We came home and there was a new TREE in our front yard. He knows i'm a hobby arborist, and had discovered an unwanted tree in his yard, so rather than just getting rid of it, he carefully dug out the root system, and planted it in my front yard.
HOLY CRAP. A neighbour used to be someone i could borrow a spare egg off of, or swap power tools, not someone who would plant trees in my yard!
I wish i could say that was even the first time he'd surprised me. In the 4 years i've lived next to him, he's snowblowed my driveway (many times), cut my lawn (many more times), even fixed my front gate. His wife has given me baby herbs to plant in my own yard, given us tones of food they didn't need, etc etc etc. It just keeps going on.
It's gotten to the point where i dont know how to thank them anymore. We've tried giving them gifts, the kids have often made them crafts, but it's just not enough.
How do you thank someone who's done SO MUCH for you, often running away before you can say thank you?