Dinner Guest #16 - The H. Family

Over the past several years, some of the most friendly, kind, upbeat, positive people I’ve met in Las Vegas have been transplanted here from Canada, and more specifically, Toronto.  So friendly, in fact that I’ve come up with a new marketing campaign for Canada’s tourism industry:

The nicest people come from Canada.  

The H. family is a perfect example of my theory.  I met Mrs. H. on the elementary school playground one day when our boys recognized each other and began playing.  By coincidence, my son Jack (5) attends the same preschool as their middle son, and my daughter Kate (7) attends the same elementary school as their oldest son.  Therefore, each weekday, we lead parallel lives as we drop off and pick up at the same locations, Mrs. H., in her silver Nissan Armada, and me, in my silver Honda Odyssey.  I knew I would like Mrs. H. when I learned that she used to be a librarian and loves Jane Austen.  Plus, Mrs. H. has a quality I greatly admire:  she doesn’t seem to have one negative bone in her body.

Up to this point in my “52 Friends for Dinner” experiment, with one exception, I have only invited over family members, or friends that I’ve met at church.  So, inviting the H. family to Sunday dinner seemed a little riskier.  I wondered:

Would it be offensive to say a prayer before eating?

Would our husbands get along?

Would they feel uncomfortable in my empty, undecorated house?

As usual, my worries were completely unfounded.  While Kate prayed over the food, no one yelled out,

“STOPPPPP!!!  WE’RE ATHEISTS!”

The husbands sat on the couch for over an hour after dinner talking animatedly about who-knows-what without pausing for long, painful silences or checking their watches.  And as for the undecorated house, I’m finding that my dinner guests simply don’t care.   I think my lack of furniture and accessories may actually be a less intimidating, common ground for some of them.  I ought to start a club:  KSLHD - Kindred Spirits Lacking Home Décor.

I served a mix of my usual dishes:  pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw, roasted yams, funeral potatoes, and chocolate pie.  Mrs. H. brought a beautiful fruit tray overloaded with strawberries and blueberries.  The kids played loudly and happily for the most part.  They created some kind of game which involved nerf guns and locking themselves in the bathroom, so that seemed the most fitting room for a snapshot.

Several hours later, our family stood on the driveway and waved as the H. family took their tired children home.

Some people like to place a welcome mat at their front door with cute sayings like:

Welcome Friends

Wipe Your Paws

Hi, I’m Mat.

I’ll be looking out for one that says,

Canadians Always Welcome!