Crisis brings community

Since my 3 months in Rajasthan, India in 1999, there have been cultural elements I have ached for.
I have tried to articulate it many ways, from talking about living in
community-house-sharing, to trying to integrate a community meal into
Basilica.
During this recovery week post-Ike, I have had this ache 'satisfied'.... or pacified. Without a slam-packed schedule, unlimited food resources, and media, and WITH people revealing their needs to be met, I have seen lots of serious community going on.
It felt the most India-like for me at my parents' house:
- To begin with, their neighbors split their generator energy with 2 additional houses to keep all refrigerators running, instead of running more of their own stuff.
- Then as my parents' deep freeze thawed, each evening mom would set up a backporch potluck for the neighbors.
- Several days in, my Mimi came to stay there. Seeing Arabella chatter with her through the day reminded me of having my Indian Mama around Mon Singh and Anita's house.

I definitely think that I feel less alone each time a crisis comes and community helps meet the needs.

I wonder how much of this I missed out on from 2001-2004 by living on credit so that no one would know we were so desperately in need -$40,000 worth of it.