Come home

I grew up with parents, who opened up their home to people who needed a place to sleep for a night or maybe 6 months. As my room was the "available" room in the apartment, I would bring my dolls or whatever and sleep in my parent's room. I didn't mind. This was how our family was. How wonderful my parents were to open up their hearts and space to others. They fed them, conversed with them and helped them feel loved and special.
The Duck and Cherry has also been an open house for sleepovers and large family meals. We enjoy it that way. The children bring friends over for dinner and a movie and they often end up sleeping over. Grown-up children come back and stay with us for periods of time between apartments, and friends come by to spend the night, when they are in the area.
We love it. It gets messy, yes, there's undoubtably a lot of food to cook and numerous bed linens to wash, but hey, I have a great washing machine and a grocery store right down the hill. I have a sunny kitchen with room for many helpers.
Friendship and family relationships are what it's all about. This is what we bring into the next life. This is something that makes us happy and helps us grow.
I have some philosophies about life and living that makes my days better. One of them is: "I love it, when our children come home to visit and make a mess, because that means they are home!"