Deb - A Selfless Neighbor

Living in a small midwestern town, I come in contact with kind people on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, the same modesty and gentle nature that makes these people so kind also seems to make them somewhat private and withdrawn.  It is for that reason that I find the following story so remarkable…

Pamela was a recently-divorced mother of two that had moved into my small neighborhood.  Due to her divorce, she found herself in a situation that she had never faced before:  unemployed, nearly broke, uneducated, and living amongst strangers.  After a stressful few months of trying to care for her two children, Pamela fell into a deep depression that went on unknown to the members of the neighborhood.  It wasn’t that people didn’t care about Pamela, it just happened to be that the members of the neighborhood were private individuals who didn’t speak outwardly of their inner struggles. 

Things around Pamela’s house changed as her depression continued.  Her window shades remained closed on even the sunniest of days.  Her garage door was rarely open and the flowers she cared so much about began to die along her sidewalk.  Members of the neighborhood began to speak quietly about the changes, however nobody openly questioned Pamela in her presence.  Nobody until Deb…

Deb, also a recently-divorced mother, moved into the neighborhood just a few months after Pamela.  She watched Pamela change and listened to the neighbors talk until one day she took it upon herself to confront Pamela about her outwardly-apparent depression.  After hearing Pamela tell her heart-wrenching tale of struggles and failures, Deb spent a full ten-hour day cleaning up the mess that had developed in Pamela’s house due to her depression.  Deb vacuumed carpets, washed dishes, dusted shelves and washed clothes.  She scrubbed floors, mopped bathrooms, and picked up toys.  She sweated, struggled, and dealt with months and months of a mess that had piled up under the mental stress of Pamela’s depression.  And she did it all without a word of complaint or without asking for anything in return.

Deb embodied everything that good people stand for on that day.  She saw someone in need, stepped-up to help, and accomplished a favor without asking for anything in return.  Thank you Deb for being the person that you are.