the neighbors (part one)

You know your time is getting short when you start taking photographs of the ordinary.  Things that have seemed commonplace and not-so-photo worthy for the past years take on new significance when the days are numbered, and I'm keeping the camera close by to capture photos of the people who make this neighborhood special for us.

This lady (I call her Grandma, a very appropriate way to address her and others women of her generation) is near the top of the list.  She's just a treat to be with - always smiling, the gift of encouragement, delights in our family.  She lives directly across from us so we see each other LOTS.  She and her husband (who hardly says more than two words, ever!) live with their son, his wife, and their grandson.  She is a new believer and I will miss her terribly! 

This might be the man Luke will miss most.  Almost every morning we are out in the courtyard after breakfast (I am hanging laundry, the boys are getting nice and grubby as a good start to the day).  And almost every morning this Grandpa walks by (he lives upstairs and passes us on his way out).  And almost every morning he picks Luke up and takes him for a little stroll up and down the path near our building.  Luke knows the routine and as soon as he hears this Grandpa call out 庆光 (Luke's Chinese name) he trots over to the gate of our courtyard and waits to be picked up for his walk :) 

His wife is a special friend too - and their daughter and her husband live two buildings away, so we've really gotten to know their whole family.  Their daughter spent a year in England and teaches Law at a nearby university.  She's 'famous' in our family because she used to have two kittens that Julianna loved to play with :)

And last for this post, one of the few stay-at-home mothers I get to spend time with (a stay at home mom is a rarity here, and this lady is actually working part-time, but when she is home she is often outside and we bump into each other frequently). 

I really like her for a lot of reasons - she's always fun to talk to, she really enjoys motherhood, and she is quick to stop and visit.  In the picture she's holding her second daughter - she is one of three moms I know of in our entire complex with a second child!  (Her older daughter is five and was at school when I took the picture.)

I hate leaving these relationships.  And I really hate moving into a place where I start from scratch.  While I'm not always a fan of the "everyone knows Laura, mother of five, the only white woman living anywhere near here" status, there are perks.  I much prefer being known, greeted, smiled at, waved at, chit-chatted with ..... I prefer that to the awkward stares that I will certainly get when we hit the new neighborhood. 

With two much-loved neighborhoods under my belt, places where I feel God was kind to give us sweet (and significant!) relationships with our neighbors, I can walk in with a confident vision of the relationships God might choose to grow in our new place. 

But no doubt about it, those early weeks in our new place I will be MISSING here.  MISSING these people.  MISSING these relationships!