My Yellow Pages

When I first moved to St. Louis a few years ago, my friend and native of St. Louis, CB, gave me a little spiral book called "My Yellow Pages".

You guys, this is one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received. Inside the book was lists of restaurants (less expensive, moderate, kid-friendly, expensive), the best places to get ice cream, good doctors, dry cleaners, grocery stores, banks, etc. She also had a map of St. Louis in the back of the book that showed where I was going to be living and all the major roads in the area.

Today, I was talking to friend who has been introducing herself to her new neighbors. As we chatted she explained that these folks that had just moved into town didn't know where anything was. That's what brought the "My Yellow Pages" back to my mind.

I have a set of neighbors that will be moving into our culdesac in the next few weeks. I think I might put together Kelly's Yellow Pages for them. I have no idea if they are from the area, so I might wait and spring it on them if they actually need it. If they are from this area, and don't seem to need it, I'll just tuck it away for my next set of new neighbors.

I hope that for someone, I can save them a little time and offer them a welcome by taking the time to help them connect with the community, even if it is just a list of names and phone numbers of local services to start with.