Common Sense Reborn

Love Your Neighbor

³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:38-39)

When Mrs. Z and I were looking to move our family back to the Savannah area, we were having a hard time finding a place to rent that was both affordable, and where we wanted to live. We really desired to be in the Bryan County school system for our kids, so we looked at places in Rincon and around Richmond Hill. After spending an entire day looking at properties that did not really feel right, we were on our last stop and it was in the Waterford Landings neighborhood on the south end of Richmond Hill. At this time, there was no exit 82 on I-95, and to just get to Waterford felt pretty far out of the way. The house that was available was nothing great. It was affordable, it had everything we needed, but for the property alone, we were not sold. As we were leaving from our initial walk-through, I told Mrs. Z we should check out what the neighborhood had to offer. As we drove through this very special community, we came to the neighborhood park, where a basketball court sat next to a cute little playground, and just beyond the park was two docks, a boat ramp, and the beautiful Jerico River. I was sold. The idea to be able to have access to the river was enough for me. As we moved in, I had believed that we had stumbled on a hidden gem in the Richmond Hill Community. I felt like God had really blessed us with this rental opportunity.

What I had not realized yet, was that the real gem of moving into that home did not lie at the far end of the neighborhood, but rather, the real blessing lie just across the street. The real blessing was that for the next three and a half years, we were blessed to live across the street to two living examples of the verses above: Mr. Jack and Mrs. Betty. These wonderful souls became the quintessential examples of ‘loving your neighbor as yourself’. Mr. Jack came over and introduced himself to Mrs. Z and I as soon as we moved in. Despite being 80 years old when we first planted our roots in the neighborhood, Mr. Jack was always out and about. He was always keeping his lawn, and his neighbor’s yard, looking crisp and clean. Often, we would see him keeping their single car equally clean and looking brand new. He took care of his plants and flowers, his home was always perfectly spotless, inside and out. He and Mrs. Betty really set a precedent on how to live their lives to the fullest and make the most of their retirement. But what was most charming about this enduring couple was their love for children. Mr. Jack and Mrs. Betty always seemed to have a great-grandchild at their home. Watching these two do all they could to help their immediate family with picking up kids from school, taking them to gymnastic and cheer practices has set the bar for how I want to live when I reach retirement. But Mr. Jack’s love for children did not just stop at his family, it overflowed throughout that special corner on Oak Ridge Circle. Those two would always welcome in our son for homemade brownies and other goodies. Mr. Jack kept up with our eldest’s activities, always asking how SGZ 1 was doing in school, soccer, and gymnastics. SGZ 2 played against one of Mr. Jack’s great-granddaughters, and he was always present at her games. And those two were so excited when we welcomed in SGZ3.

The hardest part of moving from that house was moving away from Mr. Jack and Mrs. Betty. They showed us what it meant to walk the walk to love like Jesus. When we moved into our new neighborhood, Mrs. Z and I made a commitment to be more like Mr. Jack and Mrs. Betty to the neighbors around us, and while we could never live up to those two amazing souls, we are doing our best every day to honor the example set forth from them.

I write this today because we are about to depart to Mr. Jack’s funeral, as his time on this side of existence, unfortunately for us, has come to an end. But we all know where Mr. Jack’s soul is today, and it is our goal to be his neighbor once more, to spend eternity with this amazing man and get to see how proud Jesus is of all Mr. Jack was able to accomplish with his time here on earth.