Open House!

This past Sunday was my birthday.  My best friend, Steph, told me she was going to come up here to spend the day with me.  If that wasn't exciting enough, she said she would be bringing my nephews with her.  I was ecstatic!  When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was call Steph to see when she would be leaving.  She assured me that she would be leaving around noon.  So when 1 oclock rolled around, I was kind of worried when she wasn't here yet.  I called her, and she said she hadn't left yet.  Where was she? At my house!  For the past hour, she was sitting there, talking with my parents, and eating a burger.  I laughed.  I am an hour away, and yet my best friend is currently at my house eating lunch.  The only thing is, this isn't so uncommon.

There have been multiple times where I would come home from work at 11 at night.  I would pull up beside my house to see Steph's car in my place.  She is inside, making pizza with my sister, or watching the History Channel with my dad (his favorite channel).  It soon became customary.  And vice versa.  I have been at her house plenty of times without her there.  She would walk in as I am on the ground playing with her dog.  Or I would tell her that I am on the way to her sister's house to visit her nieces and nephew-meet me there.

Steph and I are not the only ones who are like this.  The whole town, and even the ones surrounding it, are the same way.  In fact, my cousin, Danielle, told me a story that she and her mother went to the store.  When they got back, they heard someone in the living room.  Curious (especially since the dogs weren't barking) they creeped in.  In the living room they found Danielle's friend, Johanna, eating a sandwich.  My aunt asked her how she got in, since she KNEW she locked the door.  Johanna's reply was "Don't be silly, I know the back door is always open.  The lock to the gate is Keith's birthday, so I just came around the back.  As if Jake and Chevy (the dogs) would hold me back.  Want a sandwich?"

Similarly, the children in my town are always walking around and inviting themselves into people's homes.  When I was younger, we used to always go to my neighbor's house to play.  While his children were all grown up and moved away, he still kept a rope swing and toys for us to play with.  In the fall he would rake his leaves into a huge pile by a wall so that we could jump down into them.  In the winter he would bring us into his kitchen for hot chocolate and cookies.  This tradition continues.  I see children at Ron's house all the time.  Often times, I will come home to find Gregory, a kid who is about 10 years old, at my house.  He plays with my brother all the time.  What is funny, however, is that whenever my brother doesn't want to hang out, I will come home to find my brother upstairs, and Gregory STILL in my house, just playing downstairs on the wii or xbox. Yet other times, a child by the name of Nicholas comes around.  He is much younger than any of us (he MIGHT be 4 years old?) yet we all come outside to play catch with him.  It works out much better when my nephews are around.  Nevertheless, the picture here shows my family carving pumpkins, with Nicholas there as well.

In the end, whether you are best friends, playmates, or just a child from the town, Lilly has an open-door policy.  You are always welcome in everyone's home.  :)