Hi ALL! I am George Pierce, and I believe you will enjoy this true story. I have been waiting for a FedEx package that was 'out for delivery' for about a week. The package went from Knoxville to Georgia to Charlotte to Fletcher, NC, and then it stayed in Fletcher for days. In defense of FedEx, this area was crushed by Helene on the 27th of last month, schools are finally getting re-opened and many businesses are still weeks away from re-opening. About three days ago, the FedEx driver made a delivery to my neighbors. My house is tucked away, which is nice, but it makes it a little hard to find. Thus FedEx often delivers my packages to the wrong house, and fortunately, a neighbor drops them by in a day or two. Mis-delivered packages have NEVER failed to show up, thanks to great neighbors, but there is more.
Three days ago, I was working in the yard, when the FedEx driver drove up to my neighbor's house, and I was quite sure that he was delivering my package to the wrong house, so I intercepted him before he got turned around. The package was not mine, but we chatted and when we were done, he was aware of where I lived, and that my delivery was long overdue.
Yesterday, the Woodfin Water truck drove up the driveway with my FedEx package. Woodfin is a nearby community, Woodfin Water provides the water for the community. I live a few tenths of a mile past the Woodfin Reservoir and part of the back of my property borders the reservoir. I thought my package had been (mis)delivered to them, and they were bringing it up. That is not what happened.
What happened was that a big truck had gotten stuck at the bridge about 3/4 miles below, and the truck was blocking the road. The FedEx driver knew I was expecting a delivery, but he could not get up the road, Woodfin Water was trying to go down the road and was blocked. He handed off my package to Wodfin Water and they delivered it!
I sometimes share info (brag) about where I live, which is in the mountains of Western NC. and it is a special place, but the icing on the cake is my neighbors. They are the best!
Thank you for reading.
Much success,
George Pierce
PS. The images in this post are from the Blue Ridge Parkway, minutes from my home.
Comments
Your story resonates with me George, it pretty well describes my own location, neighbours and experience. One difference - I don't brag about it. The less number of people know of my perfect heaven, the better. I want it to stay this way! .-)
When you look at life as "A stranger is just a friend I have yet to meet." A Will Rogers quote, it changes everything. When new people have become neighbors they become part of the tapestry of life. As others have become neighbors I just treat them as I would want to be treated. I will admit though that the county where I have my second property the average amount of persons per square mile is 2.7. In the square mile where my property is the population just went up to 9 full time residents. For me it is only part time because my neighbors are always complaining about issues with internet access. It isn't uncommon in the area sometime during the year to be without internet connectivity for 3 weeks.
Hi Dennis, My nearest neighbour, Manuel, rears a pig to spit roast on All Saints Day (1st November) which is a big holiday here. Family, friends and villagers all come to share the leitao. I missed the event this year as stll absent writing but, when I returned, Manuel's wife Fernanda came to our door with a huge chunk of the meat kept for me. That's what we're talking about!
I am lucky since neighbors still wave, say hi, and chat, but when we were isolated and had no power, we became family. Since I am in the country, I am forced to use satellite Internet, recently I switched to Starlink. It is expensive but quite dependable, has no limits, and is about 100MB which is good for satellite. Thank you, Dennis.
The last place I lived in California was on a cul de sac. Everyone who lived on the street I knew. We were all ex military, each served in a different branch. My house was a meeting place for everyone. On holidays they all stopped over for at least a few minutes.
My other place is off grid, this means no electricy to power anything that won't run on 12 volts.
Four nearby properties have already been commercialized in the last couple of years, the word is out. You have the right idea, thank you, Tom.
Sometimes having good neighbors can make life easier. Many people today live in a world where they don't even know their neighbors name.
It was so gratifying to experience true kindness and giving as an observer and as a receiver. Thank you, Dennis.
In all honesty if it wasn't for neighbors who showed true kindness I wouldn't be alive today. Although most of my neighbors believed I wouldn't be much help, they found out it wasn't true. Kindness I have always seen as a two way street. Sometimes you can't pay back, you can however pay forward.