It's a Small World After All

In 1999-2000, I worked for an au pair agency. I dealt with a lot of au pair and host family applications and over time I've forgotten most of them. The ones that I do remember (aside from the troublesome ones) stayed in my memory for a number of reasons: some were male au pairs, some had unusual names, some sent interesting applications, and some stood out because of success with their host families. One was all of those things. He had a very unusual Eastern European name, he had interesting hobbies, and during the year he got involved with local performance groups and branched out into the community. During the year he lived in the U.S. he was interviewed for at least one article about male au pairs. But it was especially the name that I remembered.

Today my department hosted a reception, and many people from all over the university attended. As I stood talking with my supervisor in the lobby--incidentally, talking about the company I used to work for--in walked one of the guests of honor, an older woman, and with her a PhD student who lives at her home. I looked at his name tag, and there it was--that name! Eight years later, there was that same former au pair, now studying for a doctorate in Special Education. He doesn't remember me, of course, which is a good thing, since the only reason he would have had to talk to me was if he had had trouble with his host family.

If I was making this story up, he would have told me a story about how his year as an au pair changed his life, and influenced his decision to become an educator; he would have told me stories about regular reunions with his host family and with the other au pairs he met that year. In reality, he had to think for a second before he remembered the family's name, and most likely his interest in education was the reason he became an au pair in the first place. But still, it was really fun to see someone that I remembered from back then! And a reminder of what a tiny world we live in.