"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!" A Tale of Two Cities
Today I left my house with my three little kids in tow and knocked or rang the doorbell at about 28 homes. I was dropping off invitations. Many people were not there and I left their invitations on their doors. But some doors were answered and I discovered something. You can learn a lot by knocking on somebody's door.
Today I discovered that one of my friends who tends to be more private had her baby and got home from the hospital yesterday. I came inside for a moment (yes, I did leave my three little children in a running car at the curb. Bad mom.) and got to ooh and aah over her perfect new son. And I am so happy that I get to bring her dinner next week.
I knocked on the door of a friend that I don't talk to or even see much and discovered that her young son had had surgery a day or two ago and I could tell that the recovery has been rough. So I got to offer to have her other kids come over and play.
I saw another friend distressing a cabinet that she bought for $25!!!! at DI. It looked amazing and I was so impressed.
I set up a visiting teaching appointment (Mia, does Wednesday morning work? ;-)), caught up with a few people, and found out a family in our ward is moving around the corner.
It really made me realize how isolated we all are inside our homes sometimes, just keeping up with the day-to-day. And I thought of the quote from A Tale of Two Cities. That we live side-by-side and yet do not know each other's hearts.
So, I guess I need to get out and ring some doorbells more often. I'm sure I can come up with some reason for ringing the bell...if I show up with a loaf of bread or a plate of cookies just let me know how I can help!
