At last! Yesterday I met the three new neighbours who have refused all contact in the ten weeks they have lived here. I arrived home after a lovely teatime with a friend, to find my neighbours loading the trunk of their vehicle with items for recycling.
I greeted them just as the girl we did meet previously came out of their suite to join us. Her presence seemed to make the rest of them feel more comfortable to talk to me. We had a brief conversation, exchanged a couple of jokes and they eventually began making eye contact. Short ‘n’ sweet, but it is a positive start.
What the encounter did for me was relax me. Just getting a better idea of who shares our communal walls in the suites relaxes me. With the young fellow in particular I felt a bit of thawing in his attitude toward the “old white white broad” who lives next door to him. I talked about noise issues without attacking them, thanks to God’s grace, I apologized for a big noise I myself made early a few mornings ago at 6am when I missed a step coming down to the landing, landed with a thud and slammed into the wall. (No injuries, hallelujah!), and they had the joy of telling me it was okay about the noise waking THEM up. There is something so positive about asking for and receiving forgiveness, for everyone involved. The whole meeting lasted no more than a few minutes, but it helped me to relax last night when I went to bed. Subsequently I had a great sleep!
They were outside again after dinner when my husband returned from his retreat. He greeted them and for the first time they answered him. Thank you Lord for these little breakthroughs. It seems like there is a purpose to all this silliness, so we will continue to hang in.
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