• Skip to main content

Carolyn Martin - Poet

“All my life I have tried to find the truth and make it beautiful.” – Sting

  • About
  • Books
  • Publications
  • Sample Poems
  • Events
  • Let’s Connect
  • My Blog

Celebrating a new neighbor

May 3, 2019 by Carolyn Martin Leave a Comment

It happens this way …

Last Sunday our new neighbors, a lovely Ethiopian couple, invited us to a party celebrating their daughter’s first birthday. We have known the father for over a year and have loved his sweet spirit from the moment we met him.

He had rented the house in December 2017 with the hopes of turning it into an adult foster care facility. He spent over a year renovating the house, getting the required certifications, and waiting until he could get out of his apartment lease before he and his family could move in earlier this year.

Happy DayThe birthday celebration was extraordinary. Over 75 people – mostly from our neighbor’s Ethiopian Christian church – converged on our little cul-de-sac. We soon realized we were the only white faces at the party and were treated royally.

“Oh, you’re the neighbors!” we heard over and over. We had our personal concierge guiding us through the protocols of eating Ethiopian food – from the washing of hands because we would be eating with them to the ingredients of each dish. We were warned about the spicy ones and encouraged to try all the others. Everything was homemade and the colors and tastes were an education in themselves.

For those who don’t know Portland, we are a mostly lily-white part of the world. To be among these beautiful people – and, indeed, from the smallest child – and there were dozens of them running around, telling us how old they were, showing us their toys – to the oldest elder, they are beautiful – was a visual delight. I couldn’t help but marvel how they traveled from another continent, learned English, and created such a warm, loving community.

We were honored to be invited and to have our new neighbors settled in. And, the latest news: they welcomed their first resident in April. Their dream, which has taken a long time to unfold, is finally coming true. And our neighborhood is richer for it.

 

Filed Under: It happens this way ..., Posts

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tricia Knoll says

    May 3, 2019 at 10:32 am

    Lovely.

    Reply
  2. Joan Miller says

    May 3, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    A truly beautiful cul-de-sac booming of friendship, respect and honor. You & Kathy are blessed to be part of this wonderful footprint of God’s finery!

    Reply
  3. carolynmartinpoet says

    May 3, 2019 at 2:10 pm

    Indeed we are, Joan! Thank you!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept that my given data and my IP address is sent to a server in the USA only for the purpose of spam prevention through the Akismet program.More information on Akismet and GDPR.

All Content and Photos Copyright © 2023 Carolyn Martin · Website by The Poetry Box · Powered by Wordpress· Log in
  • Facebook
  • Email