Hi Neighbors!
I just wanted to share a little something with you all about my personal view
point of this wonderful community. Excuse any typos ;-) Make it a great
Friday!
While speaking with friends outside my unit last night I mentioned the tensions
that seemed to flare due to the string of a few of the emails that circulated
over the past few weeks. I further mentioned that I felt like moving as a
result of the past few weeks. Highland no longer felt like the community that I
grew to love over the past ten years.
Then I saw my neighbor Dan, who wanted to show me his adorable new kitten.
Side note, his wife, Mary has skills in the kitchen!! After that I saw
Christian and his cute little puppy who seemed to be tired after two seconds of
playing lol. Then I saw Luiz and Derrick who were going to work out. After that
I saw Susan who recently got married this year. We were both single when we
moved here so we looked out for each other and took walks and had great
conversations over the years. Then there was Julian who waved as he walked his
dog. Then Angie came outside as she walked her dog. There was Glenn; we
exchanged hellos as he took out his trash and we briefly talked about another
social. There were a few more neighbors here and there where we exchanged hello
hand waves. My friends then looked at me and said they admired the sense of
community we have. See, they're married with two young children and have lived
in their neighborhood for about 14 years. They suddenly realized they only knew
5 neighbors.
It made me reflect back to my time here. I started to reminisce on when Robyn
first moved in the community. I think she was engaged to her now husband Avery
and now they have adorable little Neil. Then there's Riah and Amina. They got
engaged while they lived here and also have a handsome son, Alex. Then there's
Summer and Jeff. They also got married while they've been living here and also
have a cute little boy named Ford. Then there are two Alexes that are
completely unrelated and both live on opposite sides of the complex but they're
super awesome in their own way! One Alex is like the security guard in the
complex. I petty the fool that tries to harm me lol. Then then the other Alex
is a wonderful voice of reason with a wealth of knowledge and skills. He
created this list serve for us. Then you have Mark and Joy. My first memory of
them was when Joy baked some delicious brownies for the cookout we had years
ago. Then there's Comer and Marny. I enjoyed working with them on the previous
board. We definitely had some good times. There's that time Mary's husband
called the news to get the 75/85 North sign moved. For those who don't know,
the sign use to be right across from our street entryway so many cars would
turn on our street due to the confusion. Then there were the times Comer and
Robert literally climbed in the dumpster so the compactor wouldn't break due to
improper trash being thrown in there. Robert surely must also be a Seinfeld
fan because it can't be a coincidence that his dog's name is Kramer lol. Then
there's Heather and Joe. If you want to know where to find them you can always
check the pool. They are the most relaxed couple I know! I envision them
retiring on an island somewhere lol. There's Justin who you can also find at
the pool chillaxin any day of the week. Then there's Wenona and Victor. Wenona
helped out with the social and always offers up a great conversation. There's
Katie K and Nate who also got married while living here. You can catch them
taking walks and hanging out at our local restaurants. There's Lisa B with the
cute Coker spaniel. There's Jasmine and Enrico who always look out for me.
There's Tiffany H who I've gotten to know more since she joined the board last
year. There's Helen P who also got married recently. There's Tracey who moved
in not too long ago who joined the board last year. There's Kyle from NY who
loves jazz and also joined the board last year. There's Andrea and Devin whose
fur baby, Cody, actually knows how to sit up for a lengthy period of time. It's
super cute! Brennan and Kaylee just moved in I think last year and they also
recently got married. There's Jorge and Wendy who moved here last year from
California. There's Micheal and Megan who are the parents to a cute fur baby
named Frankie. Then there's Myles. I had a major surgery years ago and my mom
came in town to help. I couldn't go up the steps so Myles made himself
available and carried me up the steps when I got home. There's Ron R who I knew
from church and then one day we ran into each other here and what do you
know... he turned into our neighbor. There's Constance and Jesse, Brittanae,
Shannon, George S and his wife, Bill H, Pat, Nita..and the list could go on and
on.
The point is, for many of us this might be our first home. For some, it's a
place where we've experienced a few life changes, whether it be promotions,
marriage or anything else. It's a place where we can bounce things off of each
other whether it's regarding property taxes, refinancing our homes or anything
else. It's a place with the most beautiful diversity. It's a place we come to
after a long and sometimes frustrating day at work. It's a place where we find
peace and joy. For me personally, Highland is a place of harmony. It's the
place we call home.
While there may have been email exchanges and tensions were running high,
Highland is home. None of us are perfect but the one constant is that we are
neighbors. It's people like you and I that make it an awesome place to live.
PS: Look out for details on a July social.
Think good thoughts!
Think good thoughts,
Kelli J. Reid
"One day closer to my purpose."
-KJR
Sent from my iPhone
