If you’re looking to do something fun and exciting this year, you might consider opening your home to guests. We’ve done it frequently in the past and the results have usually been wonderful. One instance when we opened our home was when we offered to provide housing for a Girl Guide from Great Britain during the summer of 1997.
There was no language barrier with Rosemary. She was after all British. But things were very quiet. Every invitation we extended to her for activities or outings, she eagerly accepted. Rosemary participated in so many activities during her stay, but I wasn’t sure how happy she was with us. She never seemed to say anything except “all rightie.” And she would smile. I asked Tiffany if Rosemary had mentioned anything about how she was feeling about the stay with us. Tiff said that Rosemary hadn’t said anything negative, but she hadn’t said anything positive either. She just seemed very agreeable and we had a very pleasant time with her during her stay.
About two weeks after Rosemary left, we received a very lengthy letter from her telling us about the wonderful time she had spent with us and all of the memories she had. She thanked us several times for allowing her to stay. We continued to hear from Rosemary quite frequently after that. In fact, we heard much more from her after her visit than we ever did during her visit!
On a trip to England in 2001, we had lunch in London with Rosemary and met her boyfriend, Nick. We spent a lovely afternoon with the two of them. Letters and gifts from Rosemary continued to arrive. When Tiffany spent a semester in London during her junior year of college, she contacted Rosemary. They spent a lot of time together. In fact, Tiffany attended a family wedding and several other events with Rosemary.
We were thrilled when Rosemary and Nick announced their engagement. Unfortunately, we were not able to attend the wedding, but felt like it was a joyous occasion for a member of our “extended” family. We were able to again rejoice with Rosemary when she finished her doctorate and I heard all about her research on mosquitoes when I visited London in 2009. Rosemary, Nick and I met for a light dinner in Picadilly Circus. Our shy little Girl Guide had grown into a beautiful young woman.
Rosemary and Tiffany now correspond more often. They’re both young wives and have much to share. Rosemary and Nick are now in Kuala Lumpur where Rosemary is doing research, and Tiffany and Bram are living in the Netherlands. They’re both far from home, but can still share their experiences through email and Facebook. My guess is that it will be a lifelong friendship between the two of them. A friendship that came from opening our home to a guest.
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