The Start of the Journey

We hadn't planned on a third child. Unlike a lot of my friends, I was looking forward to our oldest son Ned going off to college and then his brother Ross following him in a year. They were chafing at the apron strings and I was more then ready to cut them loose. I have to admit, a large part of the attraction was not having to plan dinner every night. I could survive on a nightly feast of cheese and crackers with the obligatory glass of wine if needed. However, with two teenage boys, that just wasn't possible.

The seed was planted last spring when we took our kids to Mexico. We stayed at the same hotel that other Minnetonka families were at. One of the families had a foreign exchange student Henri. Ross and Henri had gotten to know each other from school and hockey. As they week progressed, we also go to know Henri better. A couple of week's later Henri's host Mom Mary called and said that Henri's brother Petri was coming to Minnetonka in the fall. They wanted to host him, but because of MN High School Athletic rules they were not able to have him. Henri thought we would make great parents for his brother.

Flattered as we were, we thought, no. We can't take on another child. Even one who played hockey! We had too much change going on in our lives, we were both busy at work, Ned was going off to college, etc...

Betsy, the district director for YFU was very persuasive. She handled our objections like a pro. He was smart, fun and it would be a life changing experience for us. Imagine my surprise, when my husband Mark said "OK, we will do it." This was the same man who before she came said, "We will listen to her talk and then tell her no."

We justified it by saying, it would be good for Ross, our younger son, help someone out etc, but deep in my heart I knew, it was for me - he would be my third son.

Congratulations! It's a Boy

I always told people that if I knew for sure I would have another boy, we would have 3 children. Little did I know that 17 years later, I would get my wish.

We hadn't planned on a third child. Unlike a lot of my friends, I was looking forward to our oldest son Ned going off to college and then his brother Ross following him in a year. They were chafing at the apron strings and I was more then ready to cut them loose. Not having to plan dinner each night seems like heaven.

The seed was planted last spring when we took our kids to Mexico. We stayed at the same hotel that other Minnetonka families were at. One of the families had a foreign exchange student Henri. Ross and Henri had gotten to know each other from school and hockey. As they week progressed, we also go to know Henri better. A couple of week's later Henri's host Mom Mary called and said that Henri's brother Petri was coming to Minnetonka in the fall. Henri thought we would make great parents for his brother.

Flattered as we were, we thought, no. We can't take on another child. Even one who played hockey! We had too much change going on in our lives, we were both busy at work, Ned was going off to college, etc...

Betsy, the district director for YFU met with us and assured us "it will be the experience of a lifetime." Having had several of those experience in the past, this did little to assure us. Before the meeting, my husband Mark said "We aren't going to do this. We have too much going on, we will listen to her spell and then tell her no. I was relieved in a way, I do tend to take on more then I should and was really ambiguous about the whole thing.

Betsy prattled on about Petri, YFU and disarmed our objections with ease. No he didn't have to have a separate room, it wouldn't cost much - just food and board, if things didn't work out he could move to another home etc. Imagine my surprise when Mark suddenly said - OK, we will do it. This from my husband who believes that no good decision is made without first sleeping on it. We spent more time debating whether to get a new dog then whether we would welcome a stranger into our home for 9 months.

After all the preparations, I have to say when this exhausted, tall, dark haired 17 year old walked off the plane and gave me a hug, I lost my heart. Just like the other two times when I held my sons.
And so the journey begins.