Welcome!
I can hear the cheers through my kitchen window this morning as I wash the breakfast dishes. It is New Student Orientation week at Pepperdine and the new freshmen are arriving. Every time a car drives up the dorm road, the NSO counselors cheer so loudly that I can hear it from my house, which is located in the neighborhood next to campus. This is their way of saying, “Welcome to Pepperdine! We are glad you are here!” We hope to hear those same cheers next year as we drive our daughter Jessica across the street to Pepperdine when she begins college. How did she grow up so fast?
In Uganda, we often heard people say, “You are welcome” when we arrived at their home. They said this before we said “Thank you” so we were a bit confused at first. But we learned that when they say, “You are welcome” it simply means welcome to my home. Ugandans do their very best to make visitors feel welcome. Many times when we visited a home, we were served cold sodas and a meal that included some kind of meat. Sodas and meat are luxury items there, so it meant a lot to us that they would spend their limited resources to treat us to something special.
Our kids started school last week at Oaks Christian School. Lots of food was involved in welcoming them. Jennifer is a new 7th grader there, and enjoyed a nice lunch of pizza, chips, and cookies for new middle school students. Joshua is a new freshman, so he attended the mandatory ice cream social. Why does it have to be mandatory? If you serve it, they will come. Jessica is a senior, and went to the In-N-Out Burger night for high school students the night before school began. They all felt welcome and were excited to start school on Thursday.
First Day of School
What would my kids think if, when they came home from school today, I cheered at the top of my voice and handed them a cold drink? They might think I had lost my mind! Or they might just feel special.
Our friend’s mom passed away last week. I bet she received a welcome in heaven that was better than anything we could imagine.
So great to see your kids setting off for school. Remember a few years ago when we had Flat Stanley go to school with Jennifer?? I just talked to Mark making plans for Ben and Charlie to come spend a few days on this side of the “water” and play with cousins over here. Christopher’s first football game is the Fri night they are here so we will go and cheer for him too!! It won’t be too long before our grandkids are making their way off to college too. Gabbi is working hard at summer school with plans for probably UW in a year or two. We are looking forward to our trips to Hawaii and Australia/New Zealand with John and Rosella – lots of fun! Anxious to see all of you before too long. Love, Uncle Don and Aunt Kay
Oh Joline. You make me laugh!!! I can imagine you running up to the kids after they arrive home with soda in your hand sloshing all over the place and screaming at them “WELCOME HOME KIDS, I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!!” What a picture. 😛