Cohousing-L Mailing List: Why I like cohousing.

[Terry (Sarito) Whatley (terry.whatley]

A few things come to mind:

1. Because I have an opportunity to give in simple ways to people
   without it being a big deal.  For example, I was downtown (15 minutes
  walk from our site) at lunch time and saw a neighbor who works downtown
   had just bought a bag of fruit from the farmer's market and was going
   to take it back the her office.  I could offer to take it home and leave
it in
   her house for her, since I was headed that way.
     Doing this simple thing for a person I care for gave me great pleasure.

2. One day I saw a neighbor who also has a high school daughter driving out
  of the parking lot and called her on her cell to see if she was going to
the high
  school and could pick up my daughter.  She was, but asked me to take hers
there instead, which
  I did, eliminating one car round trip, giving her time to get ready for
something
  else, and getting a chance for a quick chat with my daughter's close
friend.
  Later in the day, when I found myself at the pharmacy without my wallet, a
  different  neighbor happened to be in the next parking space and lent me
the $30
  I needed to get my medicine, and when I got home and took her the cash to
repay
  her, another friend that I don't see much was sitting on the porch of a
nearby
  unit, and I got to hang out, chat, and have a glass wine with her.

3. When I heard distress noises outside and went out on my porch to check it
out, I saw that
  all of my neighbors had also come out to see what it was.  If intervention
had been needed,
  there would have been lots of help.

None of this is dramatic, but it adds up to a difference in the quality of
my life.

Sarito,
Nevada City, CA