Woman slipped a $25 Domino's gift card to a struggling neighbor — it changed her forever

Part of living in a community is having good neighbors — or at the very least, having one who makes daily life feel a little easier, but not every neighbor falls into that category. Most neighborhoods have that one neighbor where things feel tense, no matter how friendly you try to be. Reddit user u/tcat1961 shared a story about a strange neighbor who always kept bitter relationships with other people. However, one thoughtful gesture by the user completely changed her behavior toward them and also eased out years of 'neighbor tension.'

In their post, the user shared that they have been living in a suburb of Charleston, West Virginia, for two decades, and over the years, they have built good relationships with their neighbors, except for a single woman. "One of our neighbors, who has been here for about 15 years, has had a contentious history with the people living on either side of her," the user wrote, noting that "there several incidents over the years, including police being called due to disputes with one neighbor, and she’s verbally lashed out at the other."

Although the user understood she had her reasons to be frustrated, with one neighbor often hosting loud parties and the other stacking up "a noticeable amount of bags of garbage beside their home," none of it explained her aggressiveness towards them. "At one point, she even gave my partner the middle finger as she drove by, despite the fact that we had always made an effort to be friendly and greet her," they wrote. However, their perspective towards the woman shifted slightly about a year ago when they learned that her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They went on to write, "I only found out because she came over to our house one day to complain about something, and during the conversation, she mentioned it."

Wanting to bring her some comfort, the user thought of a small gesture. "We bought a $25 Domino’s gift card, tucked it into a greeting card, and dropped it off at her house as we were heading out one day," they wrote in the post. Although they didn’t hear back from her, over the next few months, they started to notice changes. The user said, "She became friendlier — not just with us, but even with the neighbors she had previously clashed with. The household that had once been overwhelmed with trash was cleaned up, and their kids even started helping with yard work."

Then one afternoon, while the user's partner was walking their dogs, the woman said to her, "You have no idea what that gift card meant to me. I was telling my family about it when I visited them out of state. Thank you!" The story is a clear reminder of how even one small gesture can be a huge turning point in someone's life, and readers couldn't agree more. u/everelusiveone wrote, "Kindness can turn an angry fist into an outstretched hand. Thank you for being a good person." u/ImhereandIhearyou chimed in, "That’s some Mr. Rogers Neighborhood sh** right there!!!!" u/ForgiveandRemember76 added, "Always take the opportunities to be kind and help. It fixes so much."