"What do you see?"

It’s a question I often ask the toddlers I work with through the Parent Child Home Program at Jericho Road whenever I bring a toy or book for them and their family. It’s not a complicated question and it allows the child to respond in a way that is true to them and without forcing them to answer in a certain way.

Usually, their responses are pretty hilarious. I had one child who would always compare each and every animal she saw in a book to a family member of hers. Whenever I would ask which one was her mother, she would look at me like I was crazy and say, “Mommy is a human! She is not an animal!"

I’m curious about what their responses would be if they saw the street I live on located on the west side of Buffalo. Because often times, not even my closest friends are able to find one positive aspect of my neighborhood.

Let’s say you were to go to a wedding of a close friend – and this wedding is beautiful. I’m talking the couple had to have spent at least $100,000 on the catering alone. While the best man was giving a toast, he threw up because he had been drinking too much. Fast forward – and you’re with your friends describing this wedding. If you could only share one story from that evening, which would it be? Will you describe the couple’s generosity, or the drunk best man?

Depending on the story you chose to share, what kind of picture do you think that paints for people who weren’t at the wedding?

The same goes for my neighborhood.

You may see broken glass in the streets, bars in the windows, and fireworks at night when it is nowhere near the fourth of July – but you want to know what I see?

I see a community that watches out for each other. I see children crossing economic and racial barriers by playing with one another in the streets.

There’s a woman who lives across the street who cares for the neighborhood cats. My housemate and I spoke with her once when we thought our cat ran away. This woman checked in two days later, and was relieved when I told her our cat was just really good at playing hide and seek and was safe and sound at our house.

Our neighbors on the right plow our front walk for us in the winter, and our neighbors on the left constantly watch out for us and have even jokingly told us they’re the parents we never knew we had (we’re planning on inviting them over for dinner sometime).

All this is to say – pay attention to the stories you share with others. Be mindful of the picture you’re painting for others. You may be the only bridge between that outsider and your community. Are you sharing a message of hope that empowers the individuals of my neighborhood?

Or are you simply regurgitating a story that perpetuates the negative aspects and will forever cast my neighbors in a dark light?

What do you see?