A Baltimore, Md., neighbourhood has become a holiday spectacle thanks to the kindness of one man who strung Christmas lights from his home to his neighbour's in a show of support meant to signal, “you are not alone.”
It started with a single string of Christmas lights. Kim Morton, struggling with pandemic-related isolation and depression, was home with her daughter when she received a text from her neighbour, Matt Riggs, who told her to look outside.
"Just a whole biochemistry mix of depression and anxiety and life stresses that a lot of us were facing in the pandemic,” Morton told CTV National News.
“And I got a text saying, 'Hey, come upstairs.' They had strung one set of lights across and it just made me cry.”
Riggs had strung a string of Christmas lights from his home to hers – a symbolic way to stay connected when Morton needed it most.
“It was just getting to be a dark time. And it really was something, that I wanted to cut through that and put some joy up,” he told CTV National News.
But soon, others on the street started to join in, creating a web of Christmas spirit that brought the entire community together.
"It was just this visual display of something we really needed. A way to connect. Yes, something we didn't know we needed,” neighbour Melissa Moore DiMuzio told CTV National News.
Neighbours helped each other drill hooks and string lights, connecting both sides of the street.
“We cleaned out Home Depot, of all of their lights, so that everybody would have the same lights,” Leabe Commisso told CTV National News.
And now, the entire connected neighbourhood has become a must-see attraction for locals getting in the Christmas spirit – a drive-through reminder that we are together, even when we’re apart.
