Feline Right at Home

I took P the cat to the vet this morning. At his advanced age of seventeen, we have to stop by for check-ups more often than we used to. The staff there is great, and since they cater only to felines, everything about the office makes us feel at home. (Well, at least I feel comfortable – P could care less.) As with each previous visit, we were warmly greeted by the resident hostess, Gigi, a lovely eighteen-year-old calico. Still light on her feet despite her age, Gigi waltzed in from the back room after sensing that someone had entered the lobby. Friendly but not overbearing, chatty but not too much so, she made her rounds peeping into cat carriers and nuzzling up to customers, always gracious with a quiet understanding of that apprehension that can come with a visit. She does her best to instill calm. (Again, let me point out that these were my observations, not P’s, who was pretty miffed about being there and had no interest in etiquette, hostess or no hostess.) Gigi made me start thinking about Welcome Wagon.

For those who may not remember Welcome Wagon, here is a little history taken directly from their website:

“Welcome Wagon was founded in 1928 by an insightful marketing man in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas Briggs. Mr. Briggs was inspired by stories of early Conestoga “welcome wagons” that would meet and greet westward travelers, providing fresh food and water for the journey. He created Welcome Wagon to embody this same spirit of warm hospitality and welcome. He hired "hostesses", women who were friendly and knowledgeable about their neighborhood, to personally deliver baskets of gifts supplied by local businesses to new homeowners. Over a cup of coffee, hostesses would tell new home buyers about local civic and cultural activities in the community while handing out gifts and coupons from local businesses”.

I remember our family being visited on several occasions by the Welcome Wagon ladies after big moves to Florida, Ohio and Tennessee. I don’t know that I can conjure up an image of specific individuals, but I do recall the baskets full of information and goodies that they dropped off at our new home. I remember Mom being pleased.

According to their website, Welcome Wagon is still in existence but the manner in which they greet new families has changed with the times. The personal touch of face to face visits stopped in 1998 when “the increase of two-income families meant fewer people were home to accept visits.” Now the focus is on connecting through the mail and internet with a booklet of information and coupons from local businesses and services to help families acclimate to their new lives.

Today, the ideal neighborly welcome would be an old-fashioned knock on the door with a plate of homemade cookies and a friendly smile. In reality, it’s probably more like a simple wave from the driveway as the morning paper is gathered. I must admit that I lean heavily towards the latter. Our lives tend to be so full that it’s easy to get caught up in “us” and become immune to “them.” We can forget how it feels to be “new,” as well as the isolation and loneliness that often accompanies the new.

 

We all want to feel connected, to be a member of a family, a community – it’s a need deep within our beings. Working in a church office has made me acutely aware of this. Fortunately, every day God offers me new and unique opportunities to work on my welcoming skills. I’m a slow learner, but I’m willing.