Company

'My idea of good company, Mr Elliot, is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.'

'You are mistaken,' said he gently, 'that is not good company; that is the best.'

Jane Austen, Persuasion

Isn’t that the truth? I love company. I love the kind of company that comes for dinner, and then you start talking until suddenly you realize that it is midnight, but it is still 1 am before your guests get out the door.

When we lived in Germany, I lived for company. During most of our time in Germany, L was a toddler and I was either pregnant or H was a baby. This made it difficult for us to “be company” (if we’d been invited) so company came to us. In Germany, I thought that holidays would be difficult being so far from home. In truth, our apartment was always filled with people on holidays. I always pestered D to invite the single soldiers, or anyone that would be alone for a holiday. New soldiers were always invited to our house for dinner. For a while, we had someone to dinner almost every night. I would call D, during the day to see who was coming. If Nick was coming, I knew not to cook the vegetables. Mandy could eat more than any woman I knew and still be so stinking skinny, once she ate an honest to goodness pig leg (then the rest of Nick’s that he couldn’t finish). Chris ate so fast, he could clean his plate in literally 3 minutes. Jeff cooked for us sometimes…..once when I was newly pregnant (infer morning-sickness) Jeff decided to make garlic scrambled eggs. He had slept on the couch (infer hangover) and wanted to make breakfast for us as a thank you. When I stepped out of the shower that morning, all I could smell was garlic…oh it was terrible. I should add that they were also inedible, according to D.

Those 4 especially, and others became our family. I was sad to leave Germany. Back in the United States the families of the single soldiers are closer (relatively), and visiting them rarely involved 8 hour plane flights. There is also an element of familiarity. Though language was never really an obstacle, because most Europeans have at least some working knowledge of English, things were still unfamiliar. So a home-cooked meal (at least that’s how I sold it!) was comfortable, familiar, and easy for them. Here, we are as familiar with the local restaurants as we are with our own homes.

I like overnight company too; I have never had a guest wear out their welcome. Even extended stay company, is fun. Shortly after D and I were married, our best man moved in with us while he was going through a divorce. Not the happiest of circumstances for him, but it was pleasant to have company. We had a good time. We have a couple of sets of friends/neighbors now that we often spend holidays with. Next year, Jeff (from Germany) may be moving in with us while he finishes school. I am really looking forward to it…as long as he doesn’t make eggs.

I honestly mean it when I say to my friends and family that our doors are always open.  Come for a short while, or come and stay.  D.C. vacation....free room and board!  The only payment I accept is clever conversation.....