Cooperative Living July 2014 - 38

GOOD NEIGHBORS by Bill Sherrod, Editor
A Lifetime of Friendship
W
hen Judy Moore read the
call for good-neighbor
nominations in Cooperative
Living late last year, the thought
crossed her mind that she should submit
her friend Lucille Roberts' name for
consideration.
" When I saw the request for nominations,
it seemed to me that Mrs.
Lucille is just the kind of person you'd
describe as a good neighbor, " says Judy,
a lifelong resident of Charlotte County
near the small rural community of
Wylliesburg.
She mulled the idea for a while
before finally deciding to proceed with
the nomination. " I let her know I was
going to do it, though, " Judy says with
a laugh. " That's just the right way to
handle something like this with Mrs.
Lucille. She's a straight
shooter and wants people
to shoot straight with her,
too. "
The women have been
neighbors more than 40
years and, though of different
generations, they have
much in common. Both
were the only children in
their families, and both
grew up in rural areas doing
the hard labor required of
life on a small Southside
Virginia working farm.
Lucille was born in
Mecklenburg County and
went to school in Chase
City. She moved to her current home in
Charlotte County in 1953, where she
worked on her family tobacco farm. " I
didn't know about working tobacco
until I moved here, " she says. " Believe
me, I learned how in a hurry. "
" I've known her since I was a small
child, " says Judy. " Her grandchildren
and I grew up and went to school
together. "
" In an area like this, you get to
know all of your neighbors from seeing
them in church, at school, going to the
36
CHARLOTTE COUNTY WOMEN
SHARE TIMES GOOD AND BAD
grocery store, visiting their homes, "
says Lucille. " Just about everybody
went to one of the churches nearby ―
First Baptist, Shiloh, or Rocky Branch
Baptist churches.
" This is how people get to know
each other in the country. These are
the ties that bind, " Lucille adds.
As Judy grew up, she formed a special
bond with her neighbor. " I would
come over and visit, and we got to be
close friends, " says Judy. " Now that I'm
an adult, I still come over to visit Mrs.
Lucille. I share my life, the good news
and the bad experiences. She's there for
me, in good times and bad. She comforts
me if something bad has happened,
she gives me a shoulder to cry
on. She's solid, stable. She's friendly
and she treats everyone the same. "
a child wanting to read and learn at an
early age, that's something that will last
a lifetime. He'll want to learn new
things throughout his life. "
Lucille also shares Judy's enthusiasm
for history, and has a very perceptive
perspective on the subject.
" History is an ongoing thing. It's
continuous. And you write your own
history every day of your life, "
observes Lucille, " in the things you do
and the way you treat people. I pray to
the Lord to allow me to live life in a
way that's a help to others. "
For Judy, these are prayers
answered.
" I can come over to visit Mrs.
Lucille, and she always gives me a shot
of self-confidence if I'm feeling low.
She's always there to help, " says Judy.
" If I see a wrinkle I
don't like, I try to
straighten it out, "
Lucille says.
" She's there to
share your joys and
your pains, " Judy says
of her friend. " A good
neighbor is also a good
friend, and sometimes
a good neighbor has to
give you a kick in the
pants. That's Mrs.
Lucille. She's a good
neighbor, she's a good
friend. "
Lucille Roberts (left) and Judy Moore
Judy, a substitute teacher in
Charlotte County, loves to read and is
a big fan of history, especially local
history, both of which she also has in
common with her neighbor Lucille.
" You can always learn, " says
Lucille. " The only time you really stop
is when you lose interest in life. It's a
small world, and the more you reach
out, the smaller it gets. "
Reading and a hunger for learning
are things that adults can instill in
young people, Lucille says. " If you get
Asked about the
concept of neighborliness,
Lucille says, " Way back yonder
when I was a schoolgirl, I learned a
poem, and these lines from that poem
have always stuck with me, and they
sum up my feelings about being a
good neighbor: 'Let me live in my
house by the side of the road, and be a
good friend to man.'
" I don't have to know you to
help you, " Lucille continues. " All of
us are fine. God made us the way we
are. All we have to do is open our
hearts. " 
Cooperative Living/July 2014
BILL SHERROD PHOTO
Cooperative Living July 2014

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