‘We reaped a bumper crop of guests.’
I’m not quite sure how it happened, but this season our house virtually runneth over with friends and family.
Dude Man tour-guiding his College Roommate Ken. That’s the Montauk LIghthouse behind them
We had kids and grandkids and roommates from college and friends from work. Our own Child and Fam (two adults and two little boys under two) were in residence for — hold on to your Valium bottle — ten days and nine nights.
This would have been on about Day Five
And those were just the peeps we had staying with us. Our day-tripper contingent included friends from the City, friends from down the street, a friend from Florida, and a whole passel of little kids at a pool party where I almost set the house on fire when my Weber flamed up.
Watermelon on the deck. Delicious — and not flammable
It’s not every year that we find ourselves hosting housefuls. Recent summers have been downright lonesome. I guess it’s kinda like Wedding Waves: you and your friends get married, then your younger cousins get married, then your nieces and nephews, than your own kids, and then, if you hang around long enough, your grandkids do. (I’ll be more than 100 when Mr. Baby reaches marryin’ age. All the more reason to enjoy him now, sticky little fingers and all.)
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- My work friend of longstanding snaps a wacky sign…
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- …then one of me, devouring a lobster roll
This year, prodigious as it was, houseguest-wise, we were lacking some guests that were former “regulars”. Like nieces and nephews. Our chocolate-factory owning relatives from the Boston area came every summer with their three daughters beginning when their now-15-year-old was in diapers. Alas, these adorable grand-nieces have turned into Busy Teens with Schedules and Jobs.
Wayne reads to one of the Adorable Grand-Nieces. This was — gasp — ten summers ago.
We also missed our siblings, a category that was a sure-fire staple in summers past. (Come back, Scott and Laura and Roger and Doug and Bill and Polly!) I get it, though. They all have grown kids and/or grandkids to visit in the summers.
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- Mom and I ‘sandwiching” Youngest Younger Bro Doug back in the day
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- Oldest Younger Bro Scott celebrates a years-ago birthday chez nous
Oh, and there for a while we had beaucoup de classmates of The Child’s who would come out to enjoy the beach and the pool. (There’s that Waves Theory again; the school friends graduate and relocate. *Sigh*)
A batch of The Child’s friends waiting for the Jitney after a summer weekend. They’re all married moms now
Whatever the reason, our Houseguest Wave this summer resumed its peak, and — aside from the mountains of towels and sheets to be laundered and the dozens of trips to the IGA and the dump to be endured — we were thrilled to bits to have the company. (For a story about guests we’ve been less than thrilled to host, see “The Houseguest Hall of Fame.”)
Equally thrilled to kick back a bit
What’s next? We’re taking our own turn at house-guesting. We’re imposing ourselves on The Child out in their new digs in the Bay Area, and then a couple of weeks later we’re inflicting ourselves on my Youngest Younger Brother and his wife up in Maine.
Better go pick out a couple of hostess gifts.
Amagansett, New York. August 2026
Love it! It is so true that there are eras, or seasons like this. For us, it was the annual camping trip with a posse of about 6 other couples (and a couple of singles in the mix, which was infrequent but always memorable), from the time we were in our mid to late 20’s until we were in our 40’s. Our lives changed, we moved, they had kids, etc. It’s bittersweet but natural when good things come to an end. I so enjoy your storytelling style. Have the most fun with your peeps for what remains of the summer!
Thank you, Rhonda, for mentioning “eras.” Now that”s a perfect way to put it! Our recurring posse (other than return summertime visitors) was a ski trip we took every spring with the same couple, plus another two or three people, sometimes another couple, sometimes random singles. The constants were Dude Man and me, this other couple, and The Child. For a childless couple, these two were remarkably welcoming. This event happened every spring beginning when Her Childness was about four until high school. While it was happening, it never occurred to us that it would end. Bittersweet indeed. Big hugs and thanks for reading xoxo