Never be too quick to judge your neighbors.
When we first observed our new neighbor who recently moved in, John and I both commented on him.
"What's up with the old dude in the old camper, is he by himself?"
"He only has one folding chair outside."
"Why did they put him right next to us, when there are so many open spots?"
Yes, we often fall victim to quickly judging people we haven't met, it is easy and with little to no knowledge about someone, our human instincts are to think the worse, until we learn otherwise.
I personally hadn't laid eyes on the guy, but only a few days after he made a home next to ours, John had the privilege of meeting the man and they shared stories.
Low and behold, the man had a fascinating life and was as nice as could be. John stood outside our camper and chatted for quite a bit this morning. I could hear their voices back and forth as I prepared breakfast. I was curious and knew John would be in shortly with an update.
Longer then I had anticipated, John entered the camper mosquito bitten. He quickly reported back his discoveries about our newly acquainted neighbor.
John learned the man was stung 30 times by that pesky hornets nest I had mentioned in my previous blog. He was the one who reported it to the office, and in turn they called us about it the same day. My heart now went out to the faceless, nameless man.
He is 74 yrs old, has owned several companies, was an iron worker, and has built bridges all throughout his life. However, the most interesting piece of his history was that he was an Army Ranger and a Veteran of the Korean War. He served in the Bay of Pigs and flew planes. He told John he truly thought the country was going to go to war at this time.
Our neighbor was personally thanked by President Kennedy after Cuba, when he toured the base, and he shook his hand. I was in awe. That is such a fabulous memory, a moment in time captured and shared. I know John was extremely appreciative of this.
The gentleman was heading west to start a tour guide service company and be a teacher. He also had a really nice, fully equipped, black jeep parked next to his camper which John and I both took note of immediately. He is planning to give tours in his jeep.
I bet the guy will give incredible tours. I have to admit, just when I think I've heard and seen everything, at this campground, someone new comes along.
I am extremely happy the man was parked next to us. I didn't get the chance to officially meet him and now he's gone. I took for granted he'd be staying longer and I had more time. Isn't that always the way, we want more time for all those missed opportunities.
My husband does well learning about others, he learns where they've been and where they're going. He has a knack for quickly finding a common thread with people. I love that he brought us closer to someone, if only for a moment in time.
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