Skip to main content

Welcoming

Welcome back, welcome home, welcome in, you're welcome! Welcome, welcome, welcome.  Every September I put these words all over my classroom- on the door, in the halls, on their desks.  It has a ring to it: Welcome back.  Jay is home from college for fall break and of course we all say Welcome Home.  It has such meaning now that he is living somewhere else most of the year.  It's not something we say to just anyone, it is reserved for special people coming back to a special place.
I recently opened a meditation entitled, "Welcome".  I wasn't sure what to expect, but what happened was definitely not something I expected.  I just thought it was some ordinary talk about getting back to what you loved maybe, or going back to a place like home.  Not at all.  The speaker invited you to think of the last time someone made you feel welcome, with a hug, or a greeting, or an offer of a cup of tea.  She said to think of the last time someone gave you that big warm welcoming hug that made you feel loved.  Well, I have to be honest, it brought me to tears.  I suddenly had these images of my grandmother, who I hadn't thought of in a while, but who never failed to make me feel welcome.  Even in her last days when her body couldn't move too freely she would swing her arms wide and gather you up for a great, warm, loving hug.  I missed her so much right then, her open happy smile, her bright, shining eyes, and her love.  And it made me cry - that is a welcome I miss.
These days when I try to hug my kids, I'm usually greeted with a stiff arm swipe across the back or maybe a quick pat.  They hold their necks as if to say, "Don't you dare try to kiss my cheek!"  It's not very welcome.  And it urges me to give up.  But you know what, I won't.  I want my kids to feel welcome every time they see me.  You never know when they may really be needing that hug, and I'm not going to hold back.  Maybe someday they'll be missing me and the hugs I give now will remind them of just how much they are loved.  So they are just going to have to deal with it.
I think of others too - the people I work with or friends I don't see much.  How often do they feel welcome?  The other day I ran into an old friend and our hands were both full at the time and we didn't hug, but I think he knew from my smile that I was happy to see him and that I was welcoming him back.  Sometimes there are reasons for us to hold back from hugging and truly welcoming another, but there shouldn't be many.  Pass on the love!  Welcome someone home.  Welcome someone back.  You may never know how much they need to feel welcomed.  Find someone who makes you feel welcome too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bundling

 My husband accuses me of bundling. Like everything. I won't go down the basement until I have collected a pile of everything that could possibly need to go down. So I'll bring the laundry down to the kitchen and then I'll start bundling. The old front door wreath goes on top of the laundry, The drill I used in the garden yesterday - on top. The Fourth of July banner on top of that. I can amass quite a pile. The same goes when I'm out doing errands. I have a doctor's appointment in Mt. Laurel? Hmm. I can stop at the Home Sense store, the big Dollar Tree, the Produce Junction, the Michaels, and the Container Store. All on my way home! I like bundling. Not just because it saves trips, which equates to gas, but it also saves my energy. If I separated those trips it would be hours or even days of travel. I don't have time for that. When I can I want to tie everything together and wrap it up. With a pretty bow.  Bundling was an act of desperation back when the kids w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Changing Seasons

Today is the first day back to school after break.   We are breaking into my mother’s house to steal an Ugly Sweater at 5 in the morning because it is Ugly Sweater Day and we have driven home from a gathering through the night up and down hilly, unlit, back roads where we saw a family of deer who spoke to us to tell us we were on the wrong road and they directed us back to a traffic-filled highway and on the roof we have tied some old evergreen branches that we will try to form into a tree because we forgot to get a Christmas tree when we had to take my son to the emergency room because he was spouting blood from his finger and while we were there my other son had a bloody nose and they were going to take him into surgery… But then I woke up.   The first day of school is not until tomorrow.   Today is January 4.   It is the Changing of Seasons around here.    Changing from the season of sleeping in and wearing pajamas, drinking 5 cups of coffee, some w...
3 comments
Read more

What Is Grief?

 What is grief? It is standing in the shower and  you are suddenly crying and then you are sobbing. And you barely thought about it in the two days since you heard  your Uncle Rich passed. You thought about your dad and your cousins and your aunt and how sad they must be and you checked in on your dad. "I'm so so sorry." And you went to work and you did what you had to do. And now you are ready for another day and you are thinking of all the things and then you are crying and you are little again and vulnerable  and your heart hurts. And you remember everyone. Medford Lakes and a swimming pool and laughing so hard  and dancing around a Christmas tree and fireworks by the lake at night. And you can see his face and all their faces smiling Aunts and uncles and cousins and brothers who aren't here. And you remember his voice, deep and laughing, and you remember his kindness and his advice. "Are you taking vitamin C, Joannie?" You see all their faces and you mis...
6 comments
Read more