William's Coming For a Visit

In 1995 we had a very special guest stay with us. It was a beautiful experience. I wrote the following article for our co-op newsletter at that time.

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William came to stay with us on rather short notice, or at least it seemed that way. We had all heard about the Rooftops' project of inviting members of a co-operative society in Africa to come to Ottawa to exchange information about our respective co-ops, but little did I realize that our family would actually be hosting a visitor from Kenya! Our family had been plodding along doing our usual stuff - in fact life was a bit mundane. Then when we knew that something special was going to happen there was a whiff of excitement in the air.

My children began to ask questions about what the visitor would be like and where he was coming from. We decided to make our seven year old son's room into a guest room. I tried to create interesting dinners for William (not knowing that he was diabetic). I hoped that my children would be on their best behaviour all the while reminiscing about my trip to Kenya and William's hometown, Mombasa, which I had visited some 25 years earlier.

William arrived at our house a little weary from his long flight, but one could hardly detect any sense of jet lag or culture shock. William dined with us and patiently answered all our questions, especially those questions asked by my daughter's nineteen year old friend. He smiled and showed the wisdom of the grandfather which he was. We conversed back and forth with such startling calm that I could not believe we had just met. We seemed quite well matched, and even though we lived many thousands of miles apart, we came together on a human plane where borders or cultures no longer matter.

And that is the way it went. We respected William and he respected us - there were no tensions between us. I felt that we 'shared' William with the other people in our co-op and at large. I say that not to be possessive, but rather because I felt protective of him - he was quite a precious visitor. I think that other people in our co-op felt the same aura around William as we did, because they would almost become entranced when he shared stories with them about his co-operative society in Kenya, and about himself.

William in his quiet, polite way explained the differences in our co-operative societies and he was always eager to learn about our co-ops here in Canada. The conversations William heard most always included foreboding about the future of our co-ops in Canada and how the government was not going to fund any more co-operative housing projects. When his co-op would construct a house for someone, it would signify a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, for the member would 'own' that house. He may have wondered why the government in Canada viewed the co-op movement here so negatively, (as if we were freeloading and not giving to the community or society at large). Because of Canada's wealth and prosperity, it sometimes became abundantly clear to me that we in Canada take so much for granted. In Kenya having just a little is so much more appreciated.

Williams was always eager to be taken on different outings, whether for formal affairs, or just for sightseeing. He had lived in England in his younger years, had fought for the Allies during the Second World War and had a good sense of history. William appeared to be very well educated. He certainly did not seem like a seventy year old man. He was fit, energetic and his mind was very finely tuned. William was a friend to everyone, a very gracious gentleman. His stay with us was truly a gift, a moment in time to be treasured.

We received a letter from William upon his return to Mombasa. We were sad to learn that he had a recurrence of malaria and had to be hospitalized for awhile. We learned a lot from him, not just about his co-operative society, but also about his culture and his personal life. William really bonded with our youngest son, who would make little presents for him and was quite attentive throughout his visit.

We were kind of stunned when we said 'Goodbye' to William at the airport. I even gave him a little kiss on the cheek. Although our family felt very close to William, I could sense a reticence on his part to hug. We came back home somewhat lonely. I couldn't wait to write William to tell him why the skies over Ottawa had been so orange that hot, hot day when he left. It was because of the forest fires burning in Northern Ontario. William had been a fire fighter you see . . .