Mental Health Monday: There Are Tremendous People in the World

I was recently in a Zoom meeting with a group of people when one person shared a story. I don’t remember exactly what prompted it, but it came up naturally in the conversation. One of the group members began recounting her personal experiences in her neighborhood.

She had lived in the same place for more than forty years, deeply rooted in the community. Neighbors often greeted one another on their porches in the summer and helped shovel each other’s sidewalks in the winter. They’d catch up about sports or what was going on in their lives when they met at the end of their driveways to get the mail.

But these relationships ran deeper. She saw children grow up who once played in the yards or rode their bikes around the block. Sometimes, neighbors gathered for dinners or went to baseball games together. Eventually, her next-door neighbor, Martha (a changed name), became ill and needed in-home care. So, Martha sold her house and moved in with the person who was telling the story on the Zoom screen.

“You’ll take me to the Tigers games, right?” Martha would ask, knowing full well that her neighbor never missed a Detroit Tigers game. “Well, of course!” my friend replied.

As she shared this story, she said, “Sometimes people would tell us, ‘You’re so good to do this.’ And we’d say, ‘No, we’re not! This is what you do!’ This is how we’re supposed to take care of each other.” She said it with such conviction, truly believing this was simply the natural way to be. We’re supposed to care for each other.

Now, deep down, I do believe that welcoming a neighbor into your home for medical care is a big commitment. This is a kind and loving gift. But what struck me most about this story was the way my friend exclaimed, “This is what you do!” with such emphasis.

When we witness so many systemic failures and hear dehumanizing speech, it’s important to take heart and remember that people like this still exist. There are extraordinary individuals in our communities, and across the world, who live with a sense of duty and care. They don’t think of their commitments as extraordinary. They just know they are right. “This is what you do!”

So, take heart. These people are among us. And you probably have ways of being one, too.

— Renee Roederer