Who’s Next Door? :: The Closeness in Quarantine

We’ve been spending more than half of our time outside. I’m more than grateful that the Louisiana weather has been beautiful enough to play with the chalk, bubbles, and sprinkler.

Daily walks are a consistent thing – and usually it’s two walks a day.

We “bear hunt” on our walks. My 2.5 year old loves it! Our neighborhood has made it so much fun, with almost every house participating.

We’ve been in our home for less than a year, and within the past month, we’ve met more of the neighborhood than I thought we ever would.

I was hesitant to leave our old neighborhood. I knew that when my husband was working offshore, I wasn’t alone. We genuinely loved our neighbors and would do anything for them. They would do anything for us.

This new neighborhood seemed quiet. It felt like everyone kept to themselves. There were no foods or sweets on the doorstep when we moved in. Only one neighbor shook my husband’s hand to introduce himself…

He was the only neighbor we knew for almost an entire year. Until the pandemic.

Who’s next door? I can tell you now.

  • To our left is a man that recently lost his job after more than 35 years. He plans to take this as an opportunity to find a job at a golf course, because he loves the game.
  • The house in front of us is a father and his two kids. The daughter is a nursing student and offered to babysit whenever we need. The father mowed our grass for me while my husband was away.
  • The neighbors to our right have a son who’s a senior. The mom is heartbroken that her last “baby” will miss some of the biggest milestone moments of life this year.
  • A woman down the road lost her husband in February. She says the timing of this has made her feel alone in so many way. First she lost her husband of almost 40 years, and now she’s even more isolated.

I promised her that we’d wave each time we passed her house on our walks – even if we didn’t see her outside. As we passed one day and waved, she was sight unseen…but came rushing out just as we were past her driveway.

“I see you! Hi! I was cleaning my windows and I saw you waving!”

Who’s next door?

I know now.

I know that I am not alone, that they are not alone.

I know that my family has a “village” in this neighborhood that will last far longer than the pandemic will.

I know that during this time of social distancing, I felt a closeness in quarantine.

Who’s next door? If you don’t know, make it a joyful point and purpose to find out.

Lauren Curet
Lauren, a Shreveport, Louisiana native, moved south in the summer of 2010 to attend University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In the fall of 2011, she laid eyes on Ross Curet, her now husband of 4 years. It was the closest possible scenario of "love at first sight". Lauren is a stay-at-home mom of their two children - Maddox, 2 years old, and Regan Evangeline, born in May of 2019. Building a family and home with her husband is her greatest joy and accomplishment! When she isn’t changing diapers, you can find Lauren shopping BST pages, traveling all over Louisiana to visit family, out and about in the stores of Lafayette (carrying a toddler on her hip and an infant in her arms), or in the CC's Coffee drive-thru. Extra shots of espresso, please!

3 COMMENTS

  1. Good job, LP. Now, run across the street and grab that nursing student by the hand and bring her to meet the kids. You need someone to be there in case of emergency or you just need a few minutes down time. Love you much.

  2. You my precious girl are so AMAZING !! Your writing is inspiring ❤️❤️ Love u to the moon and back !

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