Sharing our home is something my parents have done since I can remember. Ours was often the gathering place for all the neighborhood kids and it wasn’t unusual for a friend or three to come play, stay for dinner and then still be there for breakfast! It also would not be surprising to come home and find my mother or father had invited an acquaintance or even complete stranger home for dinner. I distinctly remember one dinner with a man my father had seen camping out at the Long Island sort yard. He was visiting from Juneau, cutting and splitting fire wood from the scrap pile. It was a typical Southeast Alaska day – cold, dark and raining hard. He seemed like such a nice guy. So when Dad got ready to leave work, he had to invite him home for a hot shower and home cooked meal. This guy sat at our table and told us grandiose stories of having traveled the world, friendships with some of the Hollywood greats like John Wayne, and having made his living filming documentary footage of sharks and even the Vietnam War. I remember thinking he just could not be telling the truth. How does someone as traveled as him end up cutting fire wood in Hoonah, Alaska. But it was true. All of it. This encounter was the beginning of a long friendship with Chuck Keen – an incredibly unique and remarkable man.
Now that I have my own family, we’ve loved to invite people to our home. My husband and I enjoy cooking for and with people. There is something about sharing a meal that can create an experience that nourishes both body and spirit. I find that these guests become fast friends as the magical aroma of food and drink mingles with good conversation and laughter. In the words of culinary great , Julia Child, “Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights. One that is both soul satisfying and eternal.” This is where friends start to become family.
Knowing company is coming almost always insures the house will get a bit better of a quick clean up – so regular visitors actually help me stay better on task about cleaning. Our daughter loves to have both small tea parties with one or two friends and big birthday bashes with all her friends.
That being said, living in a home that is constantly in a state of remodel/transition with two little children and both of us working full time plus jobs that require travel – it can also be a lot of work to have people over. What I can tell you is that it is worth the effort. Those times when a friend has just popped in and had coffee on some random morning or called after work to see if we want to do dinner or dessert were apt to initially make me cringe. I’d look around my home and see the laundry still piled on the sofa and the dishes piled in the sink, a baby needing a diaper change, and a little girl with an art mess scattered everywhere – maybe even a blanket tent in the living room and a web of string and toys tied from furniture to the front door knob and think – “Yikes!” But those friends that have bonded over food don’t care – more often than not a friend has loaded my dishwasher while I crafted a drink at the espresso machine. They have cleared the table of artwork to make room for a plate I’ve filled, or folded my laundry so there is room to sit down and read to my daughter while I chop vegetables and herbs.
We’ve sold our home here in Juneau and will be handing over the keys by the end of August. As I look around at where so many memories were made and friendships cultivated I’m sad to leave. I’ve loved this home and the people who have shared it with us. My hope is that the new owners will fill it with fabulous food shared with friends as well. Be willing to have people over even if it seems like it’s too much; it makes life so much richer!
Dr. Summer Beattie, ND is a graduate of Bastyzr University. She has over 8 years experience as a Naturopathic Doctor specializing in women’s health with an emphasis on environmental medicine. Having served two terms on the board of directors for the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians, she has also worked in the medical aesthetics field since 2008. You can reach her at onehealingcenter@gmail.com or
907-209-4611.
