“‘Let Me Know if You Need Anything’ Is Not Sufficient. Show Up. Get Your Hands Dirty”: Mom Urges You to ‘Stand in the Gap’ for Your Neighbors

“Remember your grandmommas? They showed up on door steps with casseroles and side dishes and they stood at sinks that weren’t theirs and they washed dishes.

They stood in gaps.

Remember your momma? The same casserole she made a thousand times in her kitchen? She would let you stir and you would chat and now you know that recipe backwards and forwards. It would sit on your lap in the car – the heat radiating down your legs. She would drop it off and come back to the car and –

That was her – standing in a gap.

I need you to remember that we need to do that, too. “Let me know if you need anything,” is not sufficient. Show up. Get your hands dirty.

Stand in a gap.

And if you live far away, send a gift card. Or send plastic plates and forks via Amazon.

If your neighbor is experiencing a loss, or a new neighbor is moving in, or if a neighbor lost a job or a baby or a husband –

Stand in the gap.

This is how we walk each other back home.

xoxo, B.”