Monaloca

I wish I could title this post simply “peace in the neighborhood,” but alas it’s not yet so. We had another homocide (drug-related shooting) just last month. It happened one block from Sweet Adeline Bakeshop, a favorite hangout among locals. We heard about it by chance on the evening news.

Joey tracked down the officer in charge of community relations for ours and the adjacent police beat, and I’ve had multiple conversations with him regarding steps being taken to “get the bad guys off the streets.” His words, not mine. In the past I would have cringed at such rigid distinctions (there’s always a back story, right?) but having two small kids, a mortgage, and a desire for pride in my community has left me feeling much more pragmatic. Most importantly, I want to feel safe when I walk out my front door.

Since having Melina I’ve met a ton of neighbors, people I never saw before because I never walked the streets. Before having a baby and being a stay-at-home mom, our home was a destination by car at the end of every day, not a place I considered growing roots. Since June all that has changed, and I’ve found plenty of like-minded neighbors, like Caryn down the street who organized a “Dia de los Muertos” community gathering yesterday at Sweet Adeline’s.

Several dozen adults and an equal number of young kids gathered to eat cookies, chat, and paint peace flags. We met a young family walking down the street the moment we stepped out our door, and discovered they have lived less than a block away for nearly two years. The actual celebration presented much of the same: wonderful, community-minded folks who want to commit to improving our neighborhood but don’t quite know how. Caryn and I started an email/phone sign-up sheet. We’re not sure yet what we’ll do with it, but it felt like an appropriate step. At the least, the gathering filled me with hope and encouragement, and a nascent sense of belonging in a neighborhood where we haven’t yet committed to staying but really, really want to.

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