‘There’s No Place like Home’—Know Thy Neighbor

By ALEXANDRA PFEIFER | Special to the Palisadian-Post

With all of us leading busy lives, we often can miss important human connections that exist right before our eyes. Whether it is our demanding careers or crazy carpool schedules, it is quite easy to overlook those closest to us: our neighbors.

It wasn’t until I sold my neighbors home a few months back that I realized how important the role a neighbor can play in our lives. They were—and remain—a true extension of our family.

While they have left our Palisades bubble for Santa Monica, we remain in close contact. Even in their absence, their energy and essence remain, and are deeply missed.

Our years together were spent in each other’s kitchens. For over a decade, anytime I needed an egg, a cup of sugar or, let’s be honest, a bottle of wine for a last-minute dinner party, I knew I could go next door and all would be there waiting. The same, of course, was true for them.

To this day, all school emergency contact lists include their names. Our children call them their aunt and uncle—and our youngest still believes their role is just that.

We have attended years of their children’s baseball and volleyball games, various school events and fundraisers, had weekly barbecues and impromptu wine and cheese nights. For years, we have spent most important holidays together in some capacity, and it isn’t the same without them when we do not.

When we moved to our street over a decade ago, our bluff was known to be friendly. That said, it was apparent to us that within our direct block, nobody really had forged friendships.

It has since changed. We all know and look out for one another, and there is an unspoken bond.

It seems in decades past, families tended to stay together in a neighborhood. Multiple generations would live next door, down the block, around the corner or even together in the same residence.

In times of need, such as caring for a sick child, helping with a home repair, doing a single errand or much more, family was there, front and center.

Today, families are often spread out, not just around the corner but around the nation and the world.

That sense of ultimate security and unquestioned loyalty is hard to find and not easy to replace. We have been fortunate to achieve that sense of family in our little Palisades neighborhood. We know more than each other’s names, we know one another’s stories and they are fascinating, to say the least.

Born in the South, my direct neighbor to the south moved to Compton at a young age. He became a track star, winning a gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He later became the head of Compton City College and remains an education and human rights activist to this day—now well into his 70s.

Directly behind us, we have a Palisades staple. The founder of the Palisades Letter Shop and a community activist, she is now over 100 and is still as sharp as a knife—or better yet … a letter opener.

We have an incredibly diverse block, filled with exceptional people, some of which include a talented florist, a Palisades Charter High School college counselor, teachers and administrators from various local schools, a doctor, a dentist, a tech entrepreneur, an airport executive, various musical composers, and the list goes on.

If this article does nothing else, I hope it can encourage us to take a deep breath, look around and simply pay attention. Everyone has a story and sometimes it is right next door …