Dear Jeff: Thank You Nice Neighbor Improves Move

I think we can all agree that movingww is stress- ful. It's time-consuming and exhausting.

Last weekend, my boy- friend and I moved out of our rental house and into an apartment, and all of the things I despise about mov- ing came rushing back.

Every stage of moving is "the worst part of moving" to me. Packing up all of my worldly possessions - that's worst part of moving. An- other 9x13 pan? What am I, a one-woman bakery?

Then there's the physical act of moving all of the box- es, the furniture, that huge picture of Audrey Hepburn that I insist keeps everyone acting a little classier. Get- ting all of that in and back out of a moving truck and up four flights of stairs - that's definitely the worst part of moving.

Then there's the unpack- ing. Seriously, how did all of those pans make it to the apartment? And when did we get all of these mugs? This has to be the worst part of moving.

Luckily for us, the clouds parted and from above de- scended a Hepburn-loving angel - our new neighbor Jeff. Sure, we knew the people in Waitsburg, Dayton and Walla Walla seem to be nicer than anywhere else I've lived. But this new neighbor goes above and beyond.

On our first night in the new place, he offered us wine and we chatted about old movies and musicals. We talked about jobs - Jeff seri- ously has the coolest resume I've ever heard - and we chatted about the building and how great this area of Washington is.

After a few more nights of taking truckloads of boxes and furniture to the apartment, we rented a truck and packed up the last of our belongings. On Friday, we started the arduous process of getting everything out of the truck and up to our floor. And just when our move started to look the bleakest, our awesome neighbor did something really, well, neighborly. He helped us un- pack the truck and take trips up to our floor.

Jeff's commitment to helping us was no small task. He took several hours out of his Friday afternoon to help get us moved, purely in the spirit of being neighborly.

That big act of kindness made an activity that is al- ready a big strain, quicker and at least slightly less painful.

And just when we thought he couldn't get any cooler, Jeff left a green shamrock wreath tacked to our door with a note - "Welcome to the 5th floor!" - for us to come home to.

I like to think I'll pay it forward. That Jeff's kind- ness to us will cause us to do something wonderful for a few other people and that wave of good will could ripple out until the entire city is full of happy people with warm hearts. It might be an ambitious thought, but it's always nice to have a reminder of how important a little kindness can be.