By Karisa Moore

“There’s one!” My daughter exclaimed as she spotted her first brown bear with a straw hat smiling back at her. My children, ages 13 and 10, enjoyed a neighborhood bear hunt, put together by multiple neighbors, throughout at least a two-mile radius.  The bears were hidden in windows for the kids to find as they walked with parents. Some families taped numerous bears in their windows, others contained cut-outs of real bears. People tucked small bears dressed in costumes in windows, and the occasional giant bear stared back at us. The kids quickly racked up bear sightings, and they squealed when they found a six-foot bear looking out at them from an upstairs window.

Neighbors started organizing various scavenger hunts in March for the many Northern Kentucky families now home taking walks together. As I read the information on our local announcement board, I realized neighborhoods across the country are creating the same opportunity for their neighbors.

COVID-19 is reminding us to treat our neighbor as we would want to be treated.  The quick thinking and follow-through of these sweet organizers allow kids and families to develop memories beyond the fear and loss of the pandemic. On our walk, we observed families standing on the edge of their neighbor’s drives talking, others beautifying their lawns, and fathers tossing the ball with their children.

People smiled as they recognized we were bear hunting. One person shared, they have stopped running from activity to activity and passing each other without saying a word. We are intentionally engaging our local world better.  Families are playing games and doing puzzles. Teens were out riding their bikes, and though we cannot draw close, we see one another. I even got the special treat of running into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. It was a beautiful, almost clear day, and though my children are older, they were skipping around as they hunted. I saw notes of encouragement and thankfulness chalked in driveways. “Thank you, garbage man, for serving us. You are doing a great job.”

When our face-to-face network is broken, we discover new ways of making memories with our neighbors and family. This bear hunt was a creative way of staying within the health parameters set for us and still saying, we see you, and you matter to us. As soon as we returned home, the kids found a bear among their collection of stuffed toys and placed it in the window. They now want to organize our neighborhood to participate. Thoughtfulness, giving preference to, and connecting with our neighbors are all positive outcomes of our difficult circumstances. What creative ways are you reaching out to your neighbor?

Click to tweet: When our face-to-face network is broken, we discover new ways of making memories with our neighbors and family. #ViralKindness #KindnessMatters

Karisa Moore speaks on the unspeakable as a result of her oldest son’s suicide. Her topics include Comforting After a Loss, Poetry Workshops, Church Training, and Response to Depression and Suicide. She embraces life alongside her husband and two living children. She loves long hikes, photography and great stories. Karisa is the author of Broken Butterflies: Emerging Through Grief,A Suicide Survivor’s Poetic Journal, blogger at http://turningthepageonsuicid.org.

Broken Butterflies Emerging Through Grief: A Suicide Survivor’s Poetic Journal

How does anyone survive losing a child to suicide, let alone grieve with hope? Where is God in our suffering? How does God take evil and turn it to good? Broken Butterflies: Emerging Through Grief, A Suicide Survivor’s Poetic Journal answers in a mother’s unique, passionate, voice:

– Love God and others who suffer, with your whole heart 
– God mourns with you, gives comfort, and declares, “Death, where is thy sting!”
– God transforms you into head-turning butterflies through His brokenness

Losing her teenage son in 2014 to suicide both brought her to her knees and elevated her to new purpose. She has encouraged others with her devotionals and poetry on her blog: Turning the Page on Suicide. She does not shy away from wrestling with the devastation of suicide while keeping aware of the grit of God’s faithfulness. A broken butterfly emerges as the fragile, yet resilient symbol of God’s purpose for sorrow. Her poems speak to parents, teens, and individuals wounded by depression and suicide. She defiantly declares that the enemy does not win when we put our faith and trust in Christ. Your life, even in harsh circumstances can be shaped for good in the hands of God. She provides writing prompts and opportunities to journal on each page, encouraging you to grieve with hope. Includes No Regrets Mother Mary, second-place poetry winner of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference Foundation Awards.