Monday, July 1, 2013
Good morning ,
I have a neighbor that I have gotten to know well from walking my dogs. Actually, I have gotten to know most of my neighbors from walking my dogs. When we first moved into our neighborhood in Addison over 12 years ago, I could tell you all the dogs names, but none of their owners names. Over the years, that has changed as we have grown closer to the owners of the dogs and have gotten to know them as well.
This particular neighbor has always had Boxers, we have Labradors. Dog people get each other. We pass each other and great each other and allow our dogs to do the typical sniffing of each other, decide who is the dominate one (the dogs, not the humans) and we move on. Neither really taking the time to stop and talk or take the time to get to know each other, because as we all know, we are always rushing to get somewhere.
Than one day, he introduced himself. As we became closer and our families got to know each other we discovered that this particular neighbor really enjoyed baking bread. Soon we were on his “list” and received bread and bread products that he baked on a weekly basis. There were only a few select neighbors in the neighborhood that were on his list, and we considered it an honor to be on “the list”. His baking was tremendous, and we would often tell him he needed to open a bakery.
His generosity began to catch on throughout the neighbors that were on his list and we started cooking and sharing with those on the list, favorite dishes from our kitchen to theirs, always having the bread or bread product as the main focus of the dish we were cooking. This neighbor had started something.
Well, just last week, he and his wife bought a house in Mississippi where they have family and opened a Bread Bakery where he is baking and selling bread products and already a huge success. No surprise to any of his neighbors in Addison!
Although we miss him and his little buddy boxer Herb, we learned a lot from him.
- Stop and smell the roses, they are not always filled with thorns
- Generosity is contagious, and by the way, really feels good too
- Love Thy Neighbor, seriously, or you may not know what you are missing
- Follow your dream, because life is too short not to
Make it a great day!