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It took a robbery for me to meet my neighbor
Here’s an edited excerpt of what I wrote some friends after I was robbed: Happy Thanksgiving! Today I’m thankful I finally met my first neighbor, Willy. So I got robbed last night. Someone broke into my bedroom window. It was surreal walking into my room and realizing the curtains were moving in the wind. Why are my curtains moving > How can wind get into my room > Why is my window open > oh…. it’s broken. Someone was here. Where I sleep. My phone’s battery was low so I plugged it into my running car. I knew I would need to continue to contact folks. While my family ate Thanksgiving lunch, I boarded up my bedroom window, moved some expensive stuff into my car and worked with an investigator who dusted for prints. When It was time to go, I turned my car key a full turn and it wouldn’t start. I left my car running too long. I went across the street and asked a neighbor to help me jump the car. William was the first neighbor I had more than a 5 minute conversation with in my neighborhood. He got my car running. We need to have you guys over sometime, I said. I’m really glad I met Willy. There will always be idiots, like people who don’t wear gloves while robbing homes. But there are people willing to help their neighbors too. Sometimes it just takes a bit of a crisis to get people working towards something. Wherever I live, it will always be my home and my neighborhood. Idiots will sometimes brush by our bedroom windows, yet, Willy and I aren’t going to let this stop us from working to create something beautiful in our community. Hell no. Hell no.
My house was robbed over Thanksgiving. They caught the alleged robber, so this morning I’m going to court to testify.
That I get to spend time with my family.
That I don’t have to work till Monday.
That I’m not defined by the things I own.
Yeah that’d be great, he said.
Again, thanks so much—was it William, I said.
My friends call me Willy, he said.
