Postcard No.3

A love letter to hospitality

Merriam Webster will give you the dictionary definition what hospitality means, but I’ll tell you how hospitality feels and looks like. It feels like a warm fuzzy hug that gives you a gentle squeeze and says “I’m happy you’re here.” It’s the smell of dinner cooking before you approach the front door. It’s the “I saw this and thought of you". It’s the “let’s pull out the fancy plates and light the nice candles.” It’s the conversation where you feel seen and understood. It’s the laughter and staying up to the wee hours of the night. It’s the “I have an extra ticket, wanna go?”. It’s the “I just made coffee, want some? It’s the “make yourself at home” and “stay awhile”.

For this postcard, I wanted to share 2 stories of sweet, magic moments that capture these feelings of hospitality for me at the inn.

This past December, on the 23rd, a guest showed up at the door step requesting to book a room and check in for 5 nights. We briefly chatted during the tour, and after checking him in, I scooted to the grocery store to get all the supplies for breakfast for the next few days.

While at the store, I was debating on what to make for breakfast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Do I make something different and new? Do I just make a bunch of pastries? While checking him in, we didn’t talk about breakfast options. Unsure of what to make, I picked my favorite thing to bake using what’s in season.

Fast forward to the next morning, Christmas Eve. I made my caramelized leek, mushroom, and gruyere crustless quiche. As I set it down on the table for my guest, he smiled and said “you struck a mother cord with me”. I said “oh?” He then shared it was his mother’s tradition for Christmas Eve/Christmas to make a leek quiche. And since her passing, he looks for a leek quiche every Christmas to keep the leek tradition alive. Goosebumps! We then chatted over breakfast and coffee about his family, and what a cool story it was to hear. I felt so honored. How on earth did I get so lucky to have this job!

Back in the early days of fall, I had another guest who appeared at the door step asking to book a room and stay for the night. She was on a cross country pilgrimage from Massachusetts to Colorado, and had recently lost her mom. After showing her around the first floor, I showed her to her room. Upon entering she immediately says “I don’t want to freak you out, but I feel my mom in your house. As soon as I walked into the front door, I can feel her here with me.” I say “Tell her she’s welcome and to take a look around!”.

There were other guests occupying the Library at the time of her check in, so she wasn’t able to see that room while I was giving her a tour. She settles in for the night, and the next morning when she comes down for breakfast she tells me that she walked in to the library last night, there was a singular book that was left out on the table. A book titled “The Little Big Book for Moms”.

She then says this book was a gift from her mother when she was pregnant with her first daughter. Her mother would read stories from this book to her daughters, and she too would read stories out of it. She said she was immediately covered with head to toe goosebumps. And so was I after she shared this story with me. After breakfast, we hugged and she was back on her trip out west.

‘Til February 16th, penpals.