Our home in Chicago has two walls of windows that look out onto our garden(photos above). Those same windows also provide a view of our fence and the homes across an alley.
But every night, when I am turning out the lights to go to bed, I see the HAPPY PEOPLE. I call them that, because when I’m tired, eager for sleep, they are still up, going strong. I know this, because their widescreen TV is lit up, and they are watching a film, enjoying a story that keeps them going even when it’s midnight. And when I often see them moving about, I imagine it’s time for another glass of wine or some snacks, all of which convinces me that they are happy.
As a writer, this is not unusual for me…imagining the lives of others: does this couple sleep late in the morning, because watching a movie beyond midnight is part of their routine? My husband and I have met them, and they are both retired. So why not stay up until they become drowsy, and finally head off to bed?
I do believe they are HAPPY…their home casting light into the darkness, their TV big and bright…but also because they have a lovely garden with a large swing, the kind young children yearn for. It hangs from a tree, their grandchildren often visiting, heading for that swing, where they float up to the sky, shrieking and calling out with joy.
I do love that, it reminding me of the hundreds of times I pushed and worked my way into the clouds in my own back yard, using a simple swing that hung from our garage roof and a hunk of wood set in cement. Because it is true: memoires we make in our youth never go away…
I’m the swing and the swing is me—and day by day we work our way up the dimensions of the yard. The first few seconds my toes inside my shoes can stretch to the patchy grass by the apple tree, then to the gravel car turnaround under that tree, and finally, when I’m really going, they touch the high branches of the apple tree and the roof of our house. I’m alone, clouds moving along the border of my sky, as if I’m seeing the very earth spinning on its axis. But I keep swinging and singing, sometimes just watching the sky as I float back and forth, back and forth, my head held straight along my body, like an arrow hurtling upwards.
BUT ALSO, my Happy Neighbors…once had a party on a hot summer night…the kind that beckons anyone who happened to be walking by. There was music, and vodka…which of course you can chill on a hot summer night. And if they have that party again…my husband and I will wander over…maybe I could swing on that swing.
FINAL THOUGHT
I have never needed alcohol to be happy. Just seeing how people love and honor one another makes me happy…like another of my neighbors whose job it is to deal with troubled children..those in high school, truant, getting in trouble. It’s a constant, he being called because of a fight, someone upsetting a classroom, threatening a teacher, possessing drugs or worse…my neighbor always calm, always ready. This big man with a big smile who relaxes by riding a bike or cooking on his grill…he and his wife, happy.
Our street also has a BLOCK PARTY. This is truly a Beverly Chicago thing…every block does it…so that all summer long, as you walk or drive, one city block is inaccessible from one end to the other, with the city’s permission of course. There are bounce houses, taco trucks, magicians, and musicians, while bikes and balls, scooters and electric kid cars zoom from one end to another. The best part: good conversations with your neighbors over a beer or maybe even a Screw Driver.
But why am I remembering block parties and yard parties with autumn here, winter not far away? Because it is the warmth of the people who live here, Good People, Happy People…who will help you when your car won’t start; warn you when they see a mouse run into your garage; bring over a package or the mail if it somehow was wrongly delivered.
And then, in the coldest of winters, they will set out luminary lights at every house on the block to celebrate the season. Hot coca will also be served, because these are people, happy people, who live by the code of being truly good neighbors. All blessings.
Do you have gatherings or ceremonies where you live? Are you part of a group of Happy People?
9 Responses
Beth–
You make me homesick for a Beverly I don’t remember. Thank you for this lovely piece!
Love,
Ray
Hi Ray…I think communities change. They reach out to make sure that people know one another, will care for one another. It is important. Certainly you remember the resistance to CHANGE. Even when Jinni was still living here, they formed BAPA, Beverly Area Planning Association.They are the main reason that people stayed…or they moved back. There are so many activities to keep us TOGETHER…the Ridge Run, house walks of all kids, music festivals in the parks. It does make the area a great place to live..because knowing a person means peace and acceptance. SO DELIGHTED YOU READ THE POST, Beth
I also love happy people. You can see it in their faces and eyes. We’re not all lucky enough to be happy, and some have had their fair share of troubles, but it’s nice to see it in a fellow human. And I know people who have had terrible loss who still manage to enjoy life and laugh. Those I admire most of all.
Thanks, Laurie. I have to look back to my mother, widowed with 3 children. She survived because of her own strength, but also because of
the community and the friends she had. Beverly then went through great racial change, but the openness of people, the ability to provide experiences that brought people together…and that police and firemen HAD to live in Chicago…preserved the area. It is alive and propergsing. People CAN make things work. Loved your reply.
Your words are so true…and I know there are folks living on our street who have not had an easy time of it. And to be honest, we have had those years when John was fighting cancer…and it wasn’t always easy. But smiles and handshakes, laughter and sharing makes life so much better. Thanks for writing.
These are lovely memories. The only block party I ever went to was in my late best friend’s neighborhood in Brooklyn. We were visiting at just the right time and were invited. My son was two. People don’t think of big cities as being friendly, but it depends on the neighborhood. My neighborhood is more and more rentals, transient, not saying this as a putdown of renters, but it just isn’t the same as when I first moved here. I’m happy to see those happy neighborhoods still exist.
Hi, Alana. We bought this home during COVID, sight, unseen, except by our son. It is NOT my favor home, and we have moved a lot.
But the people are lovely, and we are now experiencing life in a true CITY neighborhood. Would I rather be living in Des Moines, with all the deer and the yard work? Actually yes, but age is here and I can handle what we have. Thanks for your comment.
The swing sounds good to me about now, definitely a sign of happiness. Carefree.
Yes, if we do attend the summer party, I will be tempted to try that swing.