What’s The Best Gift Your Neighbor Ever Gave You? [Block Talk]

ACROSS AMERICA — The best gifts neighbors pass back and forth aren’t plucked from department store shelves and tied up with shiny ribbons and bows.

When we collected the responses to our Block Talk question to Patch readers on Facebook — “What’s the best gift you ever received from a neighbor?” — a picture emerged of neighborhoods that seem like nice places to settle down.

Our readers also offered a wealth of practical advice about how neighbors can show they care about each other without spending a lot of money — or any at all.

Catherine, a Doylestown, Pennsylvania Patch reader, was a new mother of a 2-month-old 25 years ago when her neighbor brought over a batch of homemade eggnog.

“Delicious,” she wrote, “reviving to an exhausted new mom.” And although no longer neighbors, “we are friends to this day.”

Folks with new moms in the neighborhood, take note; Sachem, New York Patch reader Julie has a pro-tip for you: “When I had my babies, she brought me home-cooked Italian food every night for a week,” Julie wrote of her kind-hearted neighbor.

Take another note from Judy, a Woodbridge, New Jersey Patch reader, who said the best gift from a neighbor was “a shoveled driveway and cleared off car when I was pregnant.”

Showing Up Is A Gift

Readers across the country told similar stories about neighbors who gave the best gift ever, just by showing up in tough times without being asked.

The year her husband and children’s father died, putting up the outside Christmas decorations was the last thing a Bel Air, Maryland Patch reader named Deborah wanted to think about. Her husband had always been in charge of the lights.

Deborah and her two children, ages 7 and 17, “were in no mood to do it that year,” she explained. As she and the kids were leaving the house one day, a neighbor asked how long they’d be gone.

“When we returned,” Deborah continued, “she had put lights on our bushes and decorations on the front door.”

“I had COVID and was terribly sick,” Linda, another Bel Air Patch reader, wrote. “My neighbor checked on me each day, brought me soup and Jello and meds called each morning and several times a day. She’s my best friend.”

“When I came home from an ICU hospital stay, my neighbors covered my and my family’s dinners for a couple of weeks,” said Angela, a Warminster, Pennsylvania Patch reader. “I will never forget it! [I don’t know] if it’s really considered a ‘gift,’ but it was definitely appreciated more than they know. We’re extremely grateful.”

Carolyn, a Woodbridge, New Jersey Patch reader, had out-of-town business appointments when her husband was released from the hospital. “My wonderful neighbor picked him up for me, brought him home and cooked home-cooked meals,” Carolyn said. “Best neighbor ever!”

“Our neighbor gave us groceries and a monetary gift a few months ago when one of our sons needed spinal surgery and another son had recently gone through cancer treatment,” Erin, a New Lenox, Illinois Patch reader, wrote. “They are lovely people, and it was a very nice gesture we really appreciated.”

‘An Absolute Saint’

Bobbi, another New Lenox Patch reader, wishes there were more people like her neighbors in the world, calling them “world-class people.”

“My neighbors have been there for me and continue to be by my side,” Bobbi said. “Wife's cookies are to die for, and he helps any way he can with my ‘projects’ since my husband passed away years ago. Now they're helping me deal with cancer.”

Colleen, a Radnor, Pennsylvania Patch reader, called her neighbor “an absolute saint” because she “took my children to school for me for five years while I got back into the workforce.”

Lauren, a Hatboro-Horsham, Pennsylvaia Patch reader, received the gifts of energy and generosity from her neighbors after a tornado left the neighborhood in “awful condition.”

“Yet our neighbors grilled food for everyone with power outages, offered tools, shared supplies, lent generators,” Lauren said, adding, “I’m so happy to live where I live.”

Colleen, a Hillsborough, New Jersey Patch reader, said the gift she received from her neighbors “was priceless,” even if it was only on loan.

“A few years back, I had to get a new transmission for my car,” she explained. “I would've been without a car for three weeks, but my wonderful neighbors lent me one of their cars for the duration.”

Jenn, a Concord, New Hampshire Patch reader, said the “best present ever” was the show of support from her neighbors, who “put signs up all the way down our road welcoming my son home from boot camp.”

Espresso Martinis For 2

It’s not as customary as it once was to welcome people to the neighborhood with a pie or some other delicious concoction, but Carol, a Peabody, Massachusetts Patch reader, considers it a gift that her neighbors did. She had been in her new home for about three days when someone knocked on her door.

“There stood a lovely lady with a homemade apple pie introducing herself and welcoming me,” Carol said. “Thanks to Lisa who will always bring a smile to my face.”

Deb, a Salem, Massachusetts Patch reader, had a similar story.

“Shortly after I moved in, I received a knock at the door,” she wrote. “Standing there was my neighbor with a cocktail shaker filled with espresso martinis and two glasses. I instantly fell in love! I have the best neighbors!”

Gifts of food are a big hit — with new neighbors and those who have known each other for years.

“He’s a great griller/smoker,” Shannon, an Aberdeen, Maryland)Patch reader, wrote of her neighbor, adding he “always brings a plate over.”

Andrea, another Doylestown Patch reader, won’t forget the neighbor who dropped by with a “cooler filled with milk and breakfast items when we returned from vacation!”

“She knew my cupboard was bare!” Andrea wrote.

Michael, a Norristown, Pennsylvania Patch reader, said a tray of homemade lasagna from his neighbor was a great gift, and Patricia, a Naugatuck, Connecticut Patch reader, looks forward to the “delicious” loaf of date-nut bread her neighbor gives her at Christmas.

For Janet, a Limerick, Pennsylvania Patch reader, the memory of the best gift she ever received from a neighbor, is bittersweet. She was in her late 80s when she moved in and baked a tray of homemade cookies and breads for Janet and her family every year at Christmastime. The neighbor died last year at the age of 98.

'The Gift Of Time'

Sandy, a Concord Patch reader, said her neighbor “Auntie” Mae gifted her car to her and her brothers when she gave up driving.

“She would also invite me over every Sunday to watch the Red Sox with her,” Sandy wrote. “Miss you, ‘Auntie’ Mae.”

Time doesn’t cost anything, and its worth is impossible for Deborah, a Canton-Sixes, Georgia Patch reader, to quantify.

“Our neighbors have given us the gift of time,” she said. “We are caregivers and receive no help from our family. Our neighbors step in to help us care for my elderly housebound mother. Words can’t express their love and support.”

“Respect,” Laura, a Salem, Massachusetts Patch reader, pointed out. “It’s amazing how valuable that is.”

Theresa, a Hillsborough Patch reader, received a gift whose value is beyond measure. The gift? “A knock on the door to tell us our chimney was on fire.” She “never knew who it was,” she wrote, using the Block Talk question to extend “a big thank-you.”

“Great friendship,” Anita, a Middletown, New Jersey Patch reader, said. “After Hurricane Sandy, they took me until I got my power back.”

‘Blown Away By Their Kindness’

Other gifts have been more tangible.

Joe, a Hatboro-Hasham Patch reader, says his neighbor has gifted him “awesome Phillies tickets for over 25 years.”

“My elderly neighbor found out I was going to Hawaii for the first time,” wrote Josch, a Waukesha, Wisconsin Patch reader. “She bought me a waterproof digital camera.”

Gifts don’t have to be expensive, though.

Erin, a Canton-Sixes Patch reader, said the gift from her neighbor was one of the top three presents of her lifetime.

“I was struggling, and my neighbor knew it,” Erin said. “At the time, she was a single mom, working multiple jobs. She knew I was going through a tough time personally, and one day, gave me a gift. It was fuzzy Christmas socks.”

Latasha, a Joliet, Illinois Patch reader, said the gift from her neighbor — “a nice basketball hoop system” — meant her kids can stick close to home. “My kids loved that they no longer had to go to the basketball court,” Latasha said. “They were able to play in their own back yard.”

For Wayne, a Levittown, Pennsylvania Patch reader, the best neighbor gift came from his former neighbor, Brad, a woodworker, who “carved out some trucks and a train for my two sons for Christmas.”

Great neighbor gifts don’t have to be brand-new, either.

“My next-door neighbors gave my kids one of those Little Tikes houses that are super expensive,” Sarah, a Plainfield, Illinois Patch reader, commented. “Their granddaughters were done using it, and they could have sold it for a pretty decent amount of money, but they chose to give it to my kids instead. I couldn’t believe it, and was just blown away by their kindness.”

Gifts That Grow

Flowers — whether delivered by the florist or picked from the back yard — are cherished gifts, too.

Joanna, a Guilford, Connecticut Patch reader, said that when her neighbor Mary sold her house, she dug up some of her prized iris bulbs and presented them as a gift. “My neighbors brought me flowers out of the blue," said Lynne, another Guilford Patch reader. “Made my day.”

Vera, a Bensalem, Pennsylvania Patch reader, said the best gift is “being surrounded by beautiful, glorious, well-manicured yards.”

Amanda, a Concord Patch reader, said her neighbors Bill and July “planted a host of flowers for me when my dearly beloved dog passed away in 2000.”

The timing of our Block Talk question was serendipitous for Elizabeth-Ann, a Naugatuck Patch reader.

“This just happened to me” she wrote. “My beautiful neighbors gave me this beautiful gift basket because they just found out today that my husband passed away on May 19th. Such a beautiful gesture from them.”

Love, Actually

Arlene, a Joliet Patch reader, laid it out in plain terms: “My neighbors were the gift.”

Vinnie, a Patchogue, New York Patch reader, agreed, citing his own “gift of great neighbors — and an occasional exchange of garden vegetables.”

Similarly, Josh, a Bensalem Patch reader, offered this:

“The best gift I’ve ever received from a neighbor was the simple fact that I had a great neighbor move in next door. You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your neighbors, and I got lucky!”

Annie, a Haverford-Havertown, Pennsylvania Patch reader, said the best neighbor gift she ever received was “a hug when I needed one.”

Stacey, a Levittown Patch reader, said her neighbors couldn’t possibly give a better gift than “the love they have for my son.”

“I am lucky to have them as neighbors,” she said.

“Moving into a neighborhood with like-minded young couples with kids” is a gift in itself, according to Joan Olivia, a Bel Air Patch reader.

“Thirty-plus years later [we’re] still dear friends, our kids [are] still close friends and now their kids are friends. Three generations with a lifetime of cherished friendship,” she wrote.

Rob, a Toms River, New Jersey Patch reader, recalled that when he was growing up, his neighbors were like a “third set of grandparents” who participated in his life fully, “from watching us overnight to helping me build my Pinewood Derby cars over the years while I was in Cub Scouts.”

“So I guess you can say the gift was love,” he concluded. “That.”

About Block Talk

Block Talk is an every-other-week feature on Patch offering real-world advice from readers on how to resolve everyday neighborhood problems. If you have a neighborhood etiquette question or problem you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com, with Block Talk as the subject line.

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