From putting out an oven fire to simply being a listening ear, these neighbours-turned-friends certainly have each other's backs. *Do you have the best neighbour? Please reach out to melanie@haltonhillstoday.ca to tell us more.*

111122neighbourlybaptistasandquinns — From left to right: Ross Baptista, Mike Quinn, Lucie Baptista and Jacquie Quinn.

In our new Neighbourly feature, we’re profiling neighbours in Halton Hills whose relationships have evolved into meaningful friendships.

An oven grease fire generally prompts a 911 call, but when Lucie Baptista saw flames in her kitchen, she called her neighbour.

“I didn’t know what to do, so I called Mike. He rushed over with a fire extinguisher and took care of it,” said the Georgetown south resident.

Neighbours for nearly two decades, this is one of many memories.

Not surprisingly, many studies confirm that there’s a positive relationship between life satisfaction and knowing your neighbours. A study led by York University sociologist Cary Wu says most Canadians have become more trusting of their neighbours.

Still, it’s rare to become friends with them, even with the increased familiarity that’s come from being stuck at home during the pandemic.

But Lucie and her husband Ross consider Mike and Jacquie Quinn their friends, even though they first met as across-the-street neighbours.

“We’ve gone through thick and thin,” Lucie said about the Quinns, who have since moved to Rockwood. “Jacquie saw me when I was happy, sad, mad; not all your family gets to see that.”

“Mike was in the hospital, and we went to go visit him. Just because they’ve moved away doesn’t mean that they’re not in our hearts. We’ve seen a lot of change on our street. Some neighbours are just neighbours, but with Jacquie and Mike we really connected.”

Back around the days of the oven fire, Lucie’s kids were in grade school and Ross was working nights. She would often talk to her neighbours about her day because her husband wasn’t around. Sometimes she would hand off her colicky infant to Jacquie to get a break.

But when Ross was home from the night shift, he would spend time chatting with Mike in the garage.

“It was very healthy that Ross and Mike would decompress daily. They were each other’s therapist. That’s the biggest value of our friendship. They never judge us. They just listen and give us free advice,” Lucie, 50, said.

For her part, Jacquie, 67, said, “It was great from day one. Lucie was shy, but Mike and Ross became buddies from the start. We got to know their family and we became family too. We weren’t just neighbours, we were friends – there is a difference.”

She remembers the time there was a huge wasp nest on the boulevard tree in front of Ross and Lucie’s house. Ross asked Mike what he should do. Mike tied a blow torch to a hockey stick and burned it down while Ross stood by with the garden hose.

“Luckily nobody got stung,” noted Jacquie.

Another time there was a skunk family in the Baptistas’ backyard under the shed. They put water in the skunk den with the garden hose. Everyone watched from the back window as the skunk family got flooded out.

Because the Quinns are older, the Baptistas look to them for advice.

“Mike taught Ross a lot about his experience with cars. He watched out for us. Things like, ‘Oh, you left the garage door open or strange cars on the street.’ They were our security system without the monitoring fee,” Lucie said.

Over the pandemic, the Baptistas have got to know some other neighbours better. They’ve even gone out to dinner with a few.

“You can’t just think of yourself. You could live here for two years or 20 years. I think it’s important to know your neighbours. You could potentially receive the gift of friendship,” said Lucie.

She added it’s comforting to have people nearby that have your back.

Her (now grown) kids would often go across the street after school, to stay with the Quinns, until she got home from work.

“It’s nice to have one or two neighbours that we know we can count on.”

Do you have the best neighbour? Please reach out to melanie@haltonhillstoday.ca to tell us more.

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NEIGHBOURLY: Local families “gone through thick and thin” together