A plate of cookies in the mailbox

Photo by Jeanette ONeil

I got home rather late last night after going out with friends after our writers' group meeting. As I was about to go down the walk to the house, I checked the mailbox and, lo and behold, my husband had not retrieved it earlier. I pulled out some Christmas cards, a bill, some junk mail and ... a plate of cookies.

How sweet, I thought. Someone left some goodies for us. But as I looked through the mail, I realized I had a dilemma. You see, not one, but two of our neighbors slipped Christmas cards into our mailbox yesterday. And one of them added the plate of cookies to their greeting. My dilemma? I don't know which one!

So what do I do? If I thank the wrong one, I create an awkward moment for them. If I don't thank the right one, I appear like an ungrateful, self-centered crappy kind of a neighbor. What would you do?

Of course, if you happen to be reading this and are the neighbor who did this, you could solve my dilemma right now, by letting me know. Or you could let me squirm.

Whoever did it, I must admit I was touched by the gesture. What a thoughtful thing to do!

And what a lovely reminder of the way things used to be before we all started hiding in our houses and stopped reaching out to our neighbors around us. This is the perfect time of year to change that.

A plate of cookies in the mailbox? Why not? I encourage you to do it for your neighbors ... just make sure you put a to/from sticker on it so there isn't any awkward confusion.

Sharing a holiday idea with you,

Hana