Great moments often catch us unaware!

[Robin4]

Last night I was again reminded of what a privilege it is to be a host.

It was a nice warm still evening, Ade and I were sitting outside having our customary evening drink when our current guest Elaine came over to introduce herself.

With her Syrian family my guest spent her first 4 years of life in a box in a refugee camp in Lebanon. They were eventually granted passage to Australia and set about building a new life for themselves.

At 18 Elaine married her husband and had 4 children, 3 of them boys. All the boys had health difficulties, 2 of them having life threatening conditions but they have overcome these obstacles.

Elaine, as a result of dealing with these issues has put herself through medical school and is now doing a post graduate course.

A couple of years ago her husband at the age of 41 had a stroke, can no longer work and has very limited use of the left side of his body.

This family has endured so much but Elaine is a radiant person who we shared a few lovely hours with. Ade and I both agreed, it was a wonderful night.

Great moments often catch us unaware, they come beautifully wrapped in what others might consider small ones.

Last night made me realise this is what genuine hosting is all about, one person’s humanity to another.

People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said……but……They will always remember how you made them feel!

Fellow hosts, when interacting with guests thats a pretty important thing to keep in mind!

Cheers........Rob.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

❤️

Yessss! 

Thanks for sharing this, Rob, so important!  Congratulations on being there for this sharing with this guest. Definitely a great moment!❤️

[Elisa]

Hi @Robin4 😊, 

Thank you so much for sharing this story with your guest!

It’s true, having such genuine guests is amazing and feels so thoughtful. 😍

Was this the first time you hosted this guest?

Warm regards 🌻,

[Robin4]

@Elisa 

Yes it was her first time here but said she can't wait to come back, and bring her husband with her. 

In a way I wish my studio guest book was my public review file Elisa. Guest tend to be generic and brief in their public review, almost as though they are attending to a required duty. But the comments they leave in the guest book are heartfelt and personal. Every now and then I will open it up and a $10-20 note will fall out, I have possibly missed a few that subsequent guests came across so I now make a point of checking it after every guest.

Every now and then I will souvenir it from the studio, relax in a comfy chair and spend an hour or so just reading the comments. They just melt my heart and spur me on to try that bit harder.

It's complicated because, I all the time have Ade telling me what I don't have to do....I don't have to supply! But I get joy out of hosting to a standard......my standard!

I am not in their face, but if they want to be hosted, I'm up to the task......and the other night with Elaine made me realise just how important that is!

Cheers.........Rob.

[Elisa]

Hi @Robin4 😊, 

Thank you so much for sharing this with me!

I hope this host can come back as well, it's an amazing relationship. 😍

I totally get your point, but why don't you add some of the reviews as pictures in your listings?

Warm regards 🌻,

[Marisa182]

@Robin4   Thank you, Rob, for sharing such a heart-warming and lovely experience with Elaine. She's a woman with great courage. I wish her well and hope she returns with her husband. Hosting really is a wonderful experience full of unexpected joyous encounters. Keep up your high hosting standards and I wish you  many notes falling from your guest book! I must get a guest book myself!🌷

[Laurelle3]

@Robin4 your words are a reflection of the kind and genuine person you are that has been shown over the 4 years that I have met on these pages and Zoom meetups with Quincy in the past. I can also add that we have met physically in my home 1 year ago.

I know how much heart you put into hosting, and this story is yet another example of the meaningful connections you and Ade make. Hosting isn’t just about providing a place to stay, I say it about sharing and caring, humanity, kindness, and the special moments that stay with us. Thank you for sharing, and for being such an inspiration to fellow hosts

[Robin4]

@Laurelle3 

Laurelle, thanks for the lovely words but, I am simply a reflection of those around me. It's other people and more recently guests who have made both Ade and I who we are now.

I think my proudest achievement though is my girls, every day they fill me with pride.

My youngest daughter Kate is a nurse in the New South Wales hospital system. As well as working in a state hospital she was for some time doing work in a local Central Coast aged care facility........

One of her elderly charges had a regular habit of having her husband come in and share an evening meal before going home to retire for the night.

One night Kate noticed he was having an issue with his face, it reminded her of the symptoms of Bell’s Palsy. She summoned the Registered nurse on duty saying she thought the man was having a stroke.

The Registered nurse couldn’t entirely agree with her diagnosis and suggested they keep an eye on him for a while. But Kate did not feel comfortable with this and she called an ambulance. The ambulance arrived, and the nursing home next got a message, the old guy had a massive stroke on the way to hospital and didn’t make it!

Kate was somewhat heartbroken by this event but, life goes on, it’s what happens when you work in the health system.

A few days later she was back at the care facility again and when she walked into this same old lady’s room she shot up in bed called my daughter over for a hug and said….”My dear you saved my husbands life”!!!

Through the good work of the Ambo’s although he was technically dead on arrival at the hospital the staff swung into immediate action and brought him back again, they weren't going to let him go over that rainbow bridge just yet.

For some reason this information was not directly relayed back to the aged nursing facility, but when it did the staff decided to let the old lady surprise my daughter with the news on her next shift.

Subsequently she was able to give him a hug and welcome him back to the nursing home and his wife!

She technically did the wrong thing that night Laurelle, she is an EN, enrolled nurse and should always have respected the decision of the RN, registered nurse, but just by looking at this guy, she knew he was in serious trouble.

She said to me…”It’s days like this you realise why you have been put on this earth”.

Bravo Kate and the NSW health system.

Cheers……….Rob.