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From Tara Lund: I am submitting this piece written by my neighbor and friend, Leni de Mik. I nominated her for a Linden Hills Treasure award and she was selected and accepted the award Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 at the neighbor council meeting. Leni wrote her thoughts down in the attached letter and distributed at the meeting. We felt that her story and the importance of connection would be something our community at large might be of benefit.
When I first heard I was nominated for this award, I thought it was spam. A stream of feelings ran through me when I learned it was not. Among them, why me?
After a while, it came to me that I had been given an opportunity to say some things close to my heart. For me feeling connected and belonging to a group or neighborhood is extremely significant. When we lose or don’t have this conncection, the roots of our foundations are insecure and easily shaken.
I have experienced both.
My early years unfolded in Holland. Like so many people on our planet today, my childhood was in a war zone. I was born in 1941 in Nazi-occupied Holland. I was four when I watched “the enemy” leave. But while the war was over, restoration had only begun. Restoration takes time as is true everywhere after a long war or national disaster. The village was bombed into ruins; hunger continued until food sources were re-established. And a new terror, the shadow of Stalin, loomed large and deepened. Having lived through two world wars, my father knew it could happen again.
He decided to join millions of others who fled Europe post-war. Dad applied to Brazil, South Africa, and New Zealand. And Canada. Canada said yes, and we embarked on a 10-day ocean voyage in a converted troop ship. Leaving meant leaving all relatives, all friends, all that was familiar. It meant learning a new language, finding employment, and finding a place to live. Money would have helped, but the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe banned taking currency out of the country. We came penniless.
During the years that followed, there was little time to feel lost. We did what we could to adapt to establish new foundations: customs, language, and relationships.
Which takes me to today, to community and belonging in Linden Hills, to the power of connection. I have lived in Linden Hills for 40-plus years. I know my neighbors. I’ve watched generations of children grow up, and I have seen neighborhood elderly move and die.
Like other octogenarians, I lived before TV when evenings were filled with voices of kids playing skip rope on the sidewalks, riding bicycles, or casting “jacks” on the front porch.
Things have changed. Doors to the porch are now more often closed, and the light inside shines on families sitting side by side on couches, watching TV or scrolling on their phones. How, in these times, do we maintain that significant, essential neighborly connection?
I had a small idea that blossomed – I opened my garage to community gatherings. People connected, had ideas. Here are some of the magical things I saw happen:
• Local, renowned musician-neighbors, playing in the driveway surrounded by families singing together
• A father leading a group of neighbors (lots of kids!) as we sang and gestured “The Wheels on the Bus”
• A young neighbor performing “Smoke On the Water” on his handmade dulcimer
• A group of young girls showing off their dribbling skills to honor Caitlin Clark
• Magic tricks, hula-hooping, piano recital selections shared, poems read, stories told and many choruses of “Puff the Magic Dragon” sung
• Neighbors introducing themselves, pulling out more chairs
• A neighbor garden tour followed by refreshments and visiting
• A plan for Halloween: permission to close the street to make it safe and great for kids and families
• Fresh vegetables delivered from a neigbor’s farm
• Careful planning for Neighborhood Night Out... an atmosphere that went deep into the evening
• Neighbors stringing holiday lights between homes – the metaphor of connection
• The gift of attendance: If someone throws a ball and no one catches it, there is no game!
• Shoveling snow for each other
• Going out of the way to provide and “in person” welcome to new arrivals on the block
• Picking up bagels for each other
• During COVID, neighbors offering their help to those who could not shop for themselves
• A call for shopping bags to be used to collect food so it won’t be wasted
• Neighbors and kids chatting together, playing together, getting to know one another
There is great power in neighborhoods. We really are the foundation of democracy. We can’t stop individually stop the bombing in Gaza and Lebanon, but we all have the power of small things, and caring is never small. It is contagious. All experiences that become accomplishments in time start small, in small moments, small openings that are recognized as opportunities. I opened my garage door, and neighbors gathered.
Thank you for this recognition. I accept it sincerely and humbly as a member of my extraordinary community, Drew Avenue and Linden Hills. And with the recognition that every accomplishment arises from the intricate web of relationships, the presence, support, and encouragement we share and offer one another. And we are that kind of community, together creating the essence of neighborliness, where leadership is shared, kindness is freely given, and we truly seek to see and know one another. With gratitude.
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