― Mark Twain
A few days ago, I ate dinner with a group of friends. The hostess is an incredible woman with a sky high list of life and academic achievements. She is currently writing a book about her late husband, a Nobel laureate for his work on the MRI. The guests consisted of a huge range of ages, lifestyles and interests. The only thing we had in common was our friendship with one woman. Through her we have all become friends. That is the kind of person I want to be. Someone that sees value in everyone and is able to unite strangers.
My parents are really good at this, therefore, I grew up in a home that exemplified this characteristic. Every Sunday, we hosted "Sunday dinner". The guests mostly consisted of people who were far away from their family and friends. We adopted each other and created our own family. One Sunday, we decided to take a poll of the different languages fluently spoken by those at our table. We had a total of 21 people with an average of one different language per person! This really was a typical Sunday. Sometimes our guests were musical and would share their talents with us. My friend once joked "Your house is like an opera; people running around in costumes, singing in different languages".
My house is still never boring, but I miss the constant sharing of cultures, traditions, and opinions so different from mine. My new goal is to facilitate such an environment.
