I
started thinking one day about how our home was always open to others. The
first one we had was Elizabeth Moody. She was a friend of Dad’s family. In fact
he had visited her when he was in Seattle with the Navy. She had retired and
decided to come back East. I’m not sure if she expected to live with his
mother, but she started out there. They couldn’t get along, so I invited her
stay with us until she decided where she was going to settle. She finally moved
to Maine where she lived with a niece. We kept in touch until she passed on.
The next ones were Uncle Harold and Aunt
Gloria. They had gotten married and were
buying a house, but it wasn’t ready to move into, so they stayed with us until
it was.
Once
I stopped working, we had Carolyn here most of the summers, and Bobby
occasionally. When Bruce was 2 ½ Aunt
Gloria left him here and went off to stay with
a sister in another city, leaving Harold a note that she was doing
that. She took Debby with her. We
decided that I would keep him here while his Dad worked. I had lots of fun
dressing him and Alan alike and treated them like twins. Aunt Gloria eventually
came back so he went back home. All through the years, Bruce spent most of his
week vacations here. When he was 16, he tried to commit suicide, and Debby told
me when they came here to celebrate Christmas. I told his Dad and we talked to
him. The problem he seemed to have was their relationship, so he stayed here
for several weeks while he had psychological counseling. There was always room
for him. Debby stayed here for lots of vacation weeks, as she and Beth were
close. Craig only came occasionally.
One
summer we took in 2 eight year old boys from the inner city; Michael and
Kenny.They were the same age as Eddie. We took a liking to Kenny and had him
back a couple of years, even bringing his little sister one time.
The
longest stays were the AFS students, Ingrid and Rosita. What a privilege that was. They became part
of the family. We would also host students as part of a bus stop at the end of
the year.
When
the Girl Scout Council had International Camps, we hosted girls or leaders here
for before and after camp. We’re still in touch with some of them.
One
year when Jennifer was at Daycroft and her family was in Florida, we were bringing
her here for Thanksgiving week. She called and said there were 2 sisters from
India who needed a place to go for the week, so of course we welcomed them with
open arms.
One
summer, Billy Hewitt, a college student whose family had belonged to our church
before they moved away, had an opportunity to work in New Britain for a man who
was a member of the Board at Principia, the school he attended, and he called
and asked if he could stay with us. Of course the answer was, “yes”.
From
the time Chris and Kim were 4 and 5, they spent 2 weeks every summer with us.
We had such a good time taking them places that we wouldn’t have gone to by
ourselves.
After
Dot and Bob moved to Florida, they came here for 3 weeks every fall. They would
visit all their friends they had left behind. Now that Bob is in Florida, he
comes every year for a visit. Carolyn and her family are now regular visitors.
I still keep toys on hand for little ones.
Open
Hearts, Open Arms
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