Guest “Blogger” Mom
Jess has asked a few people to write a message on her website about how her exchange adventure has affected us. I guess as her mother, I’m first.
Jessie’s year abroad is a mixed blessing for her family. Of course we are very happy for her. This is a great opportunity and experience; however, we miss her terribly. By the time a child is ready to graduate from high school, you have had time to adjust to the fact that they will probably be going away to college for short intervals. But having your seventeen-year-old (by just a few days) leave for an entire year is quite another experience.
At first we had another exchange student living here and keeping us preoccupied. A Brazilian girl, Fernanda Lima, lived with us for three months, and it was fun taking her to some of the tourist attractions and trying to help her adjust. But all too quickly she moved on to her next host home.
We didn’t communicate much with Jess for the first few months she was gone, and so her father and I worried quite a bit. We wondered if her host families were taking good care of her. Was she safe? Did they treat her like one of their family? Was it difficult communicating? Was she eating enough? Who took care of her when she was ill? Was anyone giving her hugs? Was she homesick? Was she living by the values we had taught her? We finally just had to put our faith in God, Jess’ ability to take care of herself, and the organization of the Rotary Club. But believe me, we did a lot of praying.
In addition, everyone asked about her, and I mean everyone! Jess is quite gregarious, and people I barely knew were asking how she was doing, especially after an article about her appeared in the paper. Every comment was another reminder that she wasn’t home with us.
Holidays were the most difficult times without Jess. It seemed that there was just always something, or in this case someone, missing. We felt a real void, especially at Christmas. And since Jessie’s older sister is also away at college, the family very quickly dwindled from six to just four. I still haven’t adjusted my cooking, and the family table seems far too big now.
In addition, whenever a high school event occurred here at home like homecoming, the winter dance, the basketball team going to state competition, prom, etc, it made us miss Jess and wonder if she was feeling left out as well. We tried to keep reminding ourselves that this was a wonderful experience for her and tried not to dwell on our own sadness at having her gone.
I’m also wondering how difficult it will be for her to rejoin the family and abide by our curfews and rules again since she has been so independent. However, I’m sure we will easily overcome any obstacles since we will be so happy to be together again.
I’m glad Jess didn’t have me write this earlier in her stay because it would have been very hard, but now we are greatly anticipating her coming home in just four weeks. Yay! We are looking forward to having her home, doing some camping, and just enjoying her presence again.
Many parents have told me they didn’t think they would be able to let their child leave for a year. So if we could do it over again, would we let her go? Yes, we would. Because the experiences she had this past year far outweigh the sadness we felt having her gone. I wish we could have visited her, but that just wasn’t possible. So now we are looking forward to having her tell us all about the wonderful year she spent in Denmark.
Jess' Parents: Lorna and Mike Richey
Jess has asked a few people to write a message on her website about how her exchange adventure has affected us. I guess as her mother, I’m first.
Jessie’s year abroad is a mixed blessing for her family. Of course we are very happy for her. This is a great opportunity and experience; however, we miss her terribly. By the time a child is ready to graduate from high school, you have had time to adjust to the fact that they will probably be going away to college for short intervals. But having your seventeen-year-old (by just a few days) leave for an entire year is quite another experience.
At first we had another exchange student living here and keeping us preoccupied. A Brazilian girl, Fernanda Lima, lived with us for three months, and it was fun taking her to some of the tourist attractions and trying to help her adjust. But all too quickly she moved on to her next host home.
We didn’t communicate much with Jess for the first few months she was gone, and so her father and I worried quite a bit. We wondered if her host families were taking good care of her. Was she safe? Did they treat her like one of their family? Was it difficult communicating? Was she eating enough? Who took care of her when she was ill? Was anyone giving her hugs? Was she homesick? Was she living by the values we had taught her? We finally just had to put our faith in God, Jess’ ability to take care of herself, and the organization of the Rotary Club. But believe me, we did a lot of praying.
In addition, everyone asked about her, and I mean everyone! Jess is quite gregarious, and people I barely knew were asking how she was doing, especially after an article about her appeared in the paper. Every comment was another reminder that she wasn’t home with us.
Holidays were the most difficult times without Jess. It seemed that there was just always something, or in this case someone, missing. We felt a real void, especially at Christmas. And since Jessie’s older sister is also away at college, the family very quickly dwindled from six to just four. I still haven’t adjusted my cooking, and the family table seems far too big now.
In addition, whenever a high school event occurred here at home like homecoming, the winter dance, the basketball team going to state competition, prom, etc, it made us miss Jess and wonder if she was feeling left out as well. We tried to keep reminding ourselves that this was a wonderful experience for her and tried not to dwell on our own sadness at having her gone.
I’m also wondering how difficult it will be for her to rejoin the family and abide by our curfews and rules again since she has been so independent. However, I’m sure we will easily overcome any obstacles since we will be so happy to be together again.
I’m glad Jess didn’t have me write this earlier in her stay because it would have been very hard, but now we are greatly anticipating her coming home in just four weeks. Yay! We are looking forward to having her home, doing some camping, and just enjoying her presence again.
Many parents have told me they didn’t think they would be able to let their child leave for a year. So if we could do it over again, would we let her go? Yes, we would. Because the experiences she had this past year far outweigh the sadness we felt having her gone. I wish we could have visited her, but that just wasn’t possible. So now we are looking forward to having her tell us all about the wonderful year she spent in Denmark.
Jess' Parents: Lorna and Mike Richey
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12:01 PM
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