In-house traditions
About 6 years ago or so, me, my wife and our first child (who was an infant at the time) traveled to the Carolinas to attend my grandfather’s funeral. With people coming from all over and with very limited space in my grandparent’s house, we had already made plans to get a hotel room in the area. When we arrived into town, my mom and aunt mentioned that the next door neighbor of my grandparents had already expressed that they would be willing to house some of the family. While I barely remembered this elderly couple from all the summers I would visit my grandparents, she remembered me going all the way back as a young child.
Later that evening when we arrived at the neighbor’s door, they could not wait to let us in. After talking with them for a few minutes, it was time for us to go to bed. This elderly couple took us down a short hallway that led us to a very neat small room that was dimly lit. As we were unloading our luggage, one of them mentioned to us that if we needed anything, that they would be “out here”. Then it dawned on me–this was THEIR bedroom, and they were letting us use it. After we made several attempts to convince them that we would be fine on the much smaller guest room or even the couch, we gave up. This was their way of honoring their guests.
Personally, I felt kinda awkward because I was always taught to honor the elderly. I had never seen it the other way around. As my wife and I laid in the bed that night, we made a commitment to ourselves that anytime a guest would spend the night at our house, we would also give them the best room in the house–ours.
It’s been a little over 6 years and we have held on to that commitment.
Related: “Something worth considering: A “coming of age†celebration for our kids”
November 27th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I joke with my mother that she ran the wayward house for homeless people. As child any cousin, aunt, uncle, friend of the family that needed a place to stay she offered up our apartment and therefore my room. I vowed that once I got older I would never give up my room. and to this day I have not.