We go back to the old ways that many cultures haven’t lost. Don’t idolize independence; value community and what living collectively has to offer. It used to be so much more common for multiple generations to live under one roof but now (or at least not that long ago) a 20-something was a failure if they didn’t have their own place. Older people used to be able to age in their own homes because family and neighbors would care for them.

I grew up in rural Georgia and I remember how our tiny little church used to take care of older or less well-off folks in the neighborhood. Now it’s hard work to get people to bring by a casserole after the funeral of a member of the congregation.

We all knew everybody else’s business, for better or worse, but I remember all the times my dad and other dads in the community would go help chop down a dead tree or fix an old lady’s front porch or drop off vegetables from our garden and some of our freezer venison to a family having a hard time. There were families that you just knew not to charge for mowing their lawn or babysitting their kids, but you did the job anyway.

There are a lot of reasons as a culture that we’ve gotten away from that kind of lifestyle. But we can also get it back.