Last Thanksgiving, as we were gathered around the table feasting on delectable treats, there was a knock on our door. We all stopped eating and looked at each other – wondering who would leave their families to come visit ours on Thanksgiving. I jumped up and said, “I’ll answer it!”
I opened the door slowly and a big strapping man, who I had never seen before, smiled gently and asked if he could come in. “May I ask who you are first,” I questioned. He gave me a reassuring look and instantly I knew that he was no intruder or murder, but a kind gent who needed something on Thanksgiving. I said, “Oh nevermind, come on in – are you hungry?”
He took off his hat and politely declined, stating he had his brother in the car and he couldn’t stay long. We were all so intrigued with him – he was huge and very nice looking, and none of us could take our eyes off him long enough to figure out what he was doing there.
Mom offered him some iced tea, because he looked rather thirsty. He took a few drinks and then the thick glass goblet shattered into a million pieces all over the floor. He apologized profusely and uttered something to himself that sounded like, “sometimes even I can’t handle my own strength.” It made me a little nervous when I heard that, but I brushed it off as nothing.
“Listen,” he said. “My brother and I just got back from a trip around the world and we are absolutely exhausted. We haven’t had a warm place to sleep or soft bed to sleep on in months.”
“A trip around the world?” I asked.
“Yes,” he stated, “you see, I am a doctor and my brother is a bazillionaire. We went around the world giving to the needy and caring for the sick and hurt. We were gone for 6 and a half years. We encountered a lot of adversity in some countries, but nothing that we couldn’t handle. I have a black belt in karate and my brother is a world champion boxer. We definitely held our own against the bad guys. Once, while in Africa, a lion jumped out of the forest and pinned me down. Just as his massive teeth were about to tear into my throat, my brother grabbed him by his tail, swung him over his head a few times, and threw him into the next village. It was a close call, but we managed. That’s just one of the many examples of the tough situations we faced.”
“Wow….”, we all said in unison.
My little cousin, being the naïve little one that he is asked, “how many times did you have to get gas, driving all the way around the world?”
The kind man patted his head and said, “son, a meager car will not get you all the way around the world. You have to have a boat, as well.”
He then went on to tell us of the time they were sailing across the Mediterranean Sea and they got a hole in their boat. The boat began to sink, and they had no life preservers. They did what they had to do and began swimming. When one got tired, he would grab onto the other one’s foot and they would take turns doing this until they hit land. They swam for 56 hours straight before hitting any land, and when they finally did, they found themselves on a deserted island. They slept for an entire day before hunting for food and after 62 days on that island, they finally made their way off and on to their next destination.
“What did you do when you hit land, I mean, what did you do for transportation?” my brother asked.
“My brother is a bazillionaire, remember? We bought 8 cars total on this trip and when we were finished using them, we donated them to the needy,” he explained.
“Wow – you two have been through a LOT. Why haven’t you had a decent place to stay in a while?” my mom asked.
“Well, people see our size and our ruggedness and refuse service to us. Not a hotel, inn or home from here to Toronto, Canada will take us in. We have been sleeping in our car for the past few weeks and pardon me for complaining, but we have had it! We have 9 more days in the car before we hit home, and I don’t think we can make it another night crammed in there.”
I wondered how the two of them could fit in one car together. They were massive.
Mom insisted he sit down for a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner and went to the car to invite his brother in. His brother was quiet, even more reserved, and had the same pleasant smile. They were genuine people, and we all knew it just by looking at them.
They ate until there was not a morsel or crumb left to clean up and then Mom made up the beds for them to sleep for as long as they needed. They told a few more stories about their adventures across the world and then retired early for a decent nights sleep. We were all mesmerized by the two men and hoped that they would stay at least a few more days. We stayed up until midnight, reliving their tales and analyzing each part.
When we woke the next morning, I gently pushed open the guest bedroom door to invite the nice men to breakfast. The beds were made up and it looked as if no one had even been there. There was not even a footprint in the carpet – simply straight and perfect vacuum lines.
I hollered for Mom to come here and we both stood in the doorway in awe – wondering if we had both dreamed of the nice men who had traveled around the world. I gave her a strange look and just as I was turning my head, something caught my eye.
A note.
I ran to the bed and opened the letter.
I read aloud.
“Dearest Kind Family,
Thank you so much for your generous hospitality. I do believe that you were sent to us from God as encouragement to make our final leg of the trip. Your beds exceeded our expectations and we both slept like babies. Your food was better than the 5 star restaurants in which we dined in Moscow and Paris. But above all, your loving hearts made this entire trip worth it, and gave us a glimmer of hope that maybe we were to others, what you were to us.
Forever indebted,
Bogue and Weejer.”
Can you believe I met them? :)
I opened the door slowly and a big strapping man, who I had never seen before, smiled gently and asked if he could come in. “May I ask who you are first,” I questioned. He gave me a reassuring look and instantly I knew that he was no intruder or murder, but a kind gent who needed something on Thanksgiving. I said, “Oh nevermind, come on in – are you hungry?”
He took off his hat and politely declined, stating he had his brother in the car and he couldn’t stay long. We were all so intrigued with him – he was huge and very nice looking, and none of us could take our eyes off him long enough to figure out what he was doing there.
Mom offered him some iced tea, because he looked rather thirsty. He took a few drinks and then the thick glass goblet shattered into a million pieces all over the floor. He apologized profusely and uttered something to himself that sounded like, “sometimes even I can’t handle my own strength.” It made me a little nervous when I heard that, but I brushed it off as nothing.
“Listen,” he said. “My brother and I just got back from a trip around the world and we are absolutely exhausted. We haven’t had a warm place to sleep or soft bed to sleep on in months.”
“A trip around the world?” I asked.
“Yes,” he stated, “you see, I am a doctor and my brother is a bazillionaire. We went around the world giving to the needy and caring for the sick and hurt. We were gone for 6 and a half years. We encountered a lot of adversity in some countries, but nothing that we couldn’t handle. I have a black belt in karate and my brother is a world champion boxer. We definitely held our own against the bad guys. Once, while in Africa, a lion jumped out of the forest and pinned me down. Just as his massive teeth were about to tear into my throat, my brother grabbed him by his tail, swung him over his head a few times, and threw him into the next village. It was a close call, but we managed. That’s just one of the many examples of the tough situations we faced.”
“Wow….”, we all said in unison.
My little cousin, being the naïve little one that he is asked, “how many times did you have to get gas, driving all the way around the world?”
The kind man patted his head and said, “son, a meager car will not get you all the way around the world. You have to have a boat, as well.”
He then went on to tell us of the time they were sailing across the Mediterranean Sea and they got a hole in their boat. The boat began to sink, and they had no life preservers. They did what they had to do and began swimming. When one got tired, he would grab onto the other one’s foot and they would take turns doing this until they hit land. They swam for 56 hours straight before hitting any land, and when they finally did, they found themselves on a deserted island. They slept for an entire day before hunting for food and after 62 days on that island, they finally made their way off and on to their next destination.
“What did you do when you hit land, I mean, what did you do for transportation?” my brother asked.
“My brother is a bazillionaire, remember? We bought 8 cars total on this trip and when we were finished using them, we donated them to the needy,” he explained.
“Wow – you two have been through a LOT. Why haven’t you had a decent place to stay in a while?” my mom asked.
“Well, people see our size and our ruggedness and refuse service to us. Not a hotel, inn or home from here to Toronto, Canada will take us in. We have been sleeping in our car for the past few weeks and pardon me for complaining, but we have had it! We have 9 more days in the car before we hit home, and I don’t think we can make it another night crammed in there.”
I wondered how the two of them could fit in one car together. They were massive.
Mom insisted he sit down for a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner and went to the car to invite his brother in. His brother was quiet, even more reserved, and had the same pleasant smile. They were genuine people, and we all knew it just by looking at them.
They ate until there was not a morsel or crumb left to clean up and then Mom made up the beds for them to sleep for as long as they needed. They told a few more stories about their adventures across the world and then retired early for a decent nights sleep. We were all mesmerized by the two men and hoped that they would stay at least a few more days. We stayed up until midnight, reliving their tales and analyzing each part.
When we woke the next morning, I gently pushed open the guest bedroom door to invite the nice men to breakfast. The beds were made up and it looked as if no one had even been there. There was not even a footprint in the carpet – simply straight and perfect vacuum lines.
I hollered for Mom to come here and we both stood in the doorway in awe – wondering if we had both dreamed of the nice men who had traveled around the world. I gave her a strange look and just as I was turning my head, something caught my eye.
A note.
I ran to the bed and opened the letter.
I read aloud.
“Dearest Kind Family,
Thank you so much for your generous hospitality. I do believe that you were sent to us from God as encouragement to make our final leg of the trip. Your beds exceeded our expectations and we both slept like babies. Your food was better than the 5 star restaurants in which we dined in Moscow and Paris. But above all, your loving hearts made this entire trip worth it, and gave us a glimmer of hope that maybe we were to others, what you were to us.
Forever indebted,
Bogue and Weejer.”
Can you believe I met them? :)
Shwhitney, thank you so much for sharing that with us! We thought they might be out West somewhere, but hadn't heard from them since they were last in Alaska. They had been living with a pack of Ursus arctos middendorffi (Kodiak brown bears), teaching them sign language, but they said they were headed further south for the winter, seeing as how they don't hibernate.
