I have the most delightful view out my office window. I see birch trees–now bare–and people’s backyards filled with new snow. When I visited Manchester several years ago for the first time, I realized why I loved it so much. It looked like my childhood dream come to life. I was horse-crazy and lucky enough to have my own horse, Bobbisox, from the time I was 10 until I was 17. I rode her in the watershed where she was pastured and imagined my future as some combination of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Little House on the Prairie. There would be a lot of horses and barns, no matter what. 

Now I get to drive past barns every day, and although I don’t have my horse anymore, I have a Subaru, and that’s almost as good! As I was shoveling my driveway (scene of my broken wrist last January), I thought about one of our care recipients. A. lives alone in her home. While she is pretty spry and full of energy, she can no longer shovel her walk or rake the snow off her roof. When we get a big snow, she calls me and asks if I can find someone who can do that work for her. I put the word out to our volunteers, and someone always comes through. She came up to me at our monthly event today to thank me for helping her. She slipped a little envelope in my pocket with a check and a little note. I said it was my pleasure, and I meant it. It truly is my pleasure to work here and to make connections with so many lovely people. Our neighbors. They need our help, and thanks to our intrepid volunteers, we are able to help them to stay in their own homes for as long as possible. 

We need more volunteers to help us fulfill our mission, which is “To assist our neighbors to live independent by providing no-cost, volunteer services that help to nurture relationships.” Some people think of us as a transportation service, and I am glad that we can help them get to appointments and other places they need to go. But that is not all that Neighbor to Neighbor does. We want to help people stay connected to our community and to feel cared for and appreciated. If you have a few hours each month to help, I want to hear from you. Please give me a call or email me (go to the Contact tab at the top of the page). 

Stay warm, everyone!