Tell us about the best neighbors you ever had/have

12 years ago we lived on an amazing block for 17 years. all the neighbors knew each other and we had a block list with everyone's contact info. we would have holiday and summer parties. the guys played poker on thursday nights. most of us had keys and alarm codes to each other's houses. as with time, people moved or older residents passed away. many of us still keep in touch and fondly refer to that certain block of time as our Camelot.

My neighbor of 25 years was a dear friend and a third grandmother to my kids. She knew them from birth until they went away to college. She was funny, warm, loyal, and I miss her very much. Her daughter and her grandchildren remain good friends.

Our neighbors across the street from us, Tom and Dot. Hearty New England stock. In their 70s, they were mountain climbing.

They had chickens for a while and when DS was small he used to go over and look at them; they got to run free sometimes (until a hawk attacked one, who ended up bloody and featherless under our deck, but managed to survive) came to our yard to eat ticks and other bugs.

They had a neighborhood Christmas party every year that was like something out of Norman Rockwell. Food buffet, copious wine and beer. Our neighbor played the guitar and he joined together with his bass-playing and fiddle-playing friends to play Christmas carols. Bound songbooks were in a basket and people gathered in the living room in front of the fire in their 19th century colonial to sing along.

They had a vacation house in Maine that was damaged when a huge tree fell on their roof in a storm. DH tracked them down and alerted them.

The husband was affected by long Covid and they had to move because he couldn't handle the stairs any more. They're living in the next town in a retirement community--I'm sure this isn't the ending they imagined. I think of them every day because they had a barn sale before they moved and I snagged an end table which is in the living room.

We lived in the same house for 33 years and had at least 2-3 people during those years who would happily watch the house, water the plants, take in the mail, etc. We also did the same for our neighbors. When we moved, the hardest part was finding people like that. My neighbors are nice, but people pretty much keep to themselves. My old block was like living in a retirement community in your 20's.

We moved into military housing in the early 90s next to an older couple. We became good friends, and despite only being neighbors for about a year, we kept in contact. I wrote the wife letters and emails over the years, and last year we actually saw them again on one of our trips. It had been 30 years since we saw each other, but it was so great. We had a wonderful day together.

My best neighbors lived across the street from us and the husband worked with my exH. Neighbor was super handy and always helping to fix things around the house for us or there in an emergency if we needed them. One time, we had a leak on the roof after a new roof was put on and he got up there with a tarp and covered it up until the roofers could come back the next day.

We've all since moved from the neighborhood but keep up on Facebook.

When dh and I bought our first home, we were clueless. He's not handy and neither am I. Our oldest daughters were 4 and 2 when we moved in. We weren't there 2 minutes when our kitty corner backyard neighbor showed up, wearing his toolbelt, with his two daughters, 6 and 8 years old, and (I'm tearing up at this) they were just the best.

He was incredibly handy (practically built his whole house and refurbished everything, including boats) and his girls took to our girls like they were their little sisters.

It was like something from a TV show - he was the handy next door neighbor who always showed up at the right time to help my dh with a project and we had a gaggle of little girls (and the two little boys who lived directly behind us) running through our yards all summer long.

After we moved, we kept in touch through Christmas cards but that was about it. He died last year and when my husband and I showed up at his memorial service, his older daughter burst into tears and said "I never thought I'd see you again!" Just got a baby announcement from her.

My favorite memory (and one I'm constantly reminded of by my dh) was when our front door would always lock on its own and dh would get locked out of the house. I was nursing our dd#3 on the couch and he was puttering around the house and yard and he kept getting locked out. That meant I had to unlatch the baby, get up, let him and relatch - so irritating. I get another knock and I scream "I'm not f*cking coming to the door again!" and I hear our neighbor, very sheepishly, say "Oh, um. Sorry!"

My bestie was a former neighbor. We lived on basically the same street for five years before we met, because she lived around the corner and I didn't realize anyone with kids lived on our street. We actually met at a preschool event at a church.

When we met when our kids were toddlers (her oldest just graduated high school last week), we exchange birthday presents, she baby sat my kids when I was in the hospital, I baby sat her kids when she had appointments, we traded carpools to preschool, they pet sit for us...

We moved away 11 years ago (3 miles) and our kids go to different schools now.  She is the one thing I miss about the old neighborhood!

I have wonderful neighbors. Starting w/the neighbors to my left. We look out for eachother. They're getting older and slowing down. One time we came home from a trip and our water heater had leaked and flooded part of the garage. There wasn't any damage, but we needed to fix it and it was a heavy job. Our neighbor gave dh a list of what to buy at the hardware store. When dh got back our neighbor was deep into the fix and refused to let dh help him. Another time our neighbor wanted to replace our adjoining fence. He refused to let us help or pay. However, yds was his fence buddy. Yds was little and he was the fetch and carry guy. They really bonded. I could tell you so many stories about this stuff.

My across-the-street neighbor is a good friend, too. We both love cats and when her stray had kittens in our yard, they fostered the kittens and I was over there every day playing w/the kittens. We bonded that way. They have the best doggie in the universe and I got to babysit her and was over the moon. My right side neighbor is super friendly and so thoughtful. Three doors down we have another great neighbor. Directly across the street our neighbors are just so sweet. I could on and on.

We would never move.

When I owned my house in TX, my neighbor (a retired man) used to mow my lawn. And edge it and all the things. My yard was pretty small, and he said he just figured he’d do it when he did his. No biggie (to HIM). They also loved my dog as their own.

We had some great neighbors at our old house and we have some great neighbors at this house. One neighbor at my old house was a woodworker and he built all the custom shelving for my store for the price of the lumber and made me a beautiful cabinet to store stamps in. He also built an extra tall bathroom sink base for our bathroom in that house. Our neighbors across the street were good friends too and we frequently would go to dinner with them on Fridays for years.

Our current neighbors here helped us out all the time with our chickens when we had them. The husband would bring up my paper on Sundays if we were at the cabin, and puts our packages in the garage when the delivery drivers don’t follow instructions. Our neighbors on the other side helped us clean up the huge mess when a giant tree limb came down after a storm last summer. Other neighbors across the street usually host a big neighborhood party at Christmastime.

We try to be good neighbors too, DH plows out the driveway for everyone we know in the neighborhood with his truck in the winter. I’ve hemmed pants, fixed holes in snow pants, hemmed shirts and other minor sewing tasks for people. It always kind of surprises me by how many people these days don’t know how to sew on a button, LOL.

I grew up on a quiet cul-de-sac of 10 houses and it was just me, my brother and 1 other family with 2 girls same ages. We had a blast, running between pools all summer, shooting hoops, riding bikes, playing hide n seek, making up all kinds of games thru the neighborhood. Our neighbors left a path so the kids could run between the houses.

My one neighbor, they had older kids who were gone, had a huge garden, chickens, they did canning, she was a talented seamstress...can't remember how many late nights the night before a school presentation or play we were on her doorstep asking for help. I would help her collect chicken eggs and with whatever she was baking/cooking up. The sweetest people.

We had holiday parties, some neighbors would stay home so we could go caroling, everyone made a big deal out of our halloween costumes and gave us special bags of candy. One neighbor hosted easter egg hunts for us. They watched us overnight when my parents went out of town for a wedding. They watched our dog and made us a scrapbook of photos of her when we got back to show everything she did.

One neighbor had cherry trees, the other neighbor picked the cherries and my parents baked the pies, then we would have everyone over for a cherry pie party in summer.

It was like a dream, like a movie. I know that now although I probably thought that was how all kids grew up back then!

Some moved, some passed, and eminent domain changed it for good, but we still keep in touch. They all became more like family.

Now I know my neighbors with waving or a little chat or help with a referral but don't ask me to name anyone more than 2 doors down.