"When I first joined
the program in 2012, my biggest dream was to travel across the United States
and experience a whole new culture. I had been working with children and loved
the joy they brought to my life, so I thought this was a great and affordable opportunity
to get an experience I could carry with me for the rest of my life.
I
think most people dream about becoming a family member to their host family, but
what is it really like? When are you a family member to them and how do you know it? I
had no doubt about what they meant to me. It was scary that someone who was
completely strangers to you less that a year back suddenly could mean the world
to you.
I experienced three days as an au
pair where my youngest girl was sick. She felt terrible and only wanted to
sleep and lay on the couch all day. This was the same girl who usually had more
energy than a whole army – she did soccer, karate, gymnastics and softball but
not these three days. I felt sick to my stomach and would have taken her
illness on me if I could. Isn’t it crazy how you can feel sick when somebody
you love feels bad? I felt what they felt. When my oldest girl did her
gymnastics competitions and were on the balance beam doing flips, I would hold
my breath until she was done and I knew she was safe. When they were happy I was
happy and when they cried my heart could break into a million pieces. I felt
loved and appreciated by these girls and by their parents too. When I picked
them up from school and they came running into my arms. When they took my hand
and begged me to never leave them. When I tugged them in at night and they
would tell me secrets. When they had a family photo taken and wanted me to join
in.
They
brought me on vacations, I got to celebrate holidays with them, which were
different from mine since they were Jewish and I’m Christian. They let me speak
and be a part of the prayer around the table and introduced me to their
religion. They celebrated my birthday like my friends and family would have
done. The house was open for my friends to visit. When I felt sick and my host
parents where out of town, the grandparents would take me into their house and
treat me like the grandchild, trying to make me feel better. The grandparents
addressed their messages ‘’Love Nana’’ and when I went back to visit them this
summer 2014, the family picked me up in the airport, we drove to the aunt and
uncles house to celebrate Father’s day and the they would introduce me as
‘’This is Camilla and she is a part of our family’’. Before I left the United
States to go back to Denmark, they gave me a necklace – a key with a heart
melted into it. On the side I found a note saying ‘’you have the key to our
hearts and our home’’. And that’s when I for sure knew it was mine home to.
This was my family – my second family."
