Quiet late nights spent talking, laughing, and crying, my father spending his last months on earth here in one of these big chairs, reading or just watching and listening, come to mind. I can see him now, sitting in front of the windows, a small man, smaller by the day, his 92 years perched on his shoulders like the weight of the world. He loved this place too. He lived with Virginia and Phil for only about four months, but their house became his heart's home in that short time. This house is not home just to family.
Neighbors congregate here too.
There's always plenty of room for everyone, and I'm proud to say that my sister and her husband both have their doctorates in hospitality. They know how to make anyone feel at ease and welcome, because they really do feel that anyone is welcome in their home. I want to learn to make people feel like that. Maybe if I stay around them long enough, whatever it is that they have will rub off on me. I don't know how else to learn true hospitality.