Not as hugely generous as this story, but during his whole college professor career since the 70s, my father always took care that none of his students spent any major holidays alone and away from home, so we always ended up having 2 or 3 of them around for Christmas, the New Year, Easter...
They were from everywhere around the country and the world, and it was so very enriching for me and my siblings. I had a huge postage stamp collection from the ever increasing well wishing mail that arrived.
It's also kind of comforting to think that anywhere in the world you are not that far from someone that remembers you fondly.
That seems to be one of the things that some great professors do. I've heard of that convention from many colleges/universities.
At any university, look for the professors who act like benevolent citizens of the best of university ideals. They don't all do it in the same way, but they're some of the best.
I like to think of the university as a microcosm, and incubator, for how you'd like larger society to be.
You can do the same for work colleagues. This has happened to me throughout my career when time/money/circumstance kept me away from family/home during holidays.
That’s nice, I once ended up alone around New Year, a mix of being far away from family, busy with studies and not actively asking people around to join their events due to being shy.
One of my friends that lived nearby spotted me walking alone and invited me over. Another of her friends joined in. It was just the three of us, and it was much, much better than spending it alone.
When I was an exchange student at RIT and had just arrived from France a month before, one of the admin staff invited me and a friend in the same situation for thanksgiving because she didn't want to leave us by ourselves for a major holiday.
I have fond memories of that kindness.
The Colorado School of Mines had a "host family" program for foreign students. My father was a geologist, and we lived about five miles from the School of Mines, so we/they acted as host family for students from Italy, Nigeria, China, and no doubt countries I've forgotten. This included invitations to holiday meals, drives into the mountains, etc.
My dad said his grandfather always had a teenager or two at the dinner table who had no where else to go. Not just Christmas but all year. My parents did the same with a friend of mine and one of my sisters friends.
Here in Belgium there's a village that's famous for doing this. Currently there's about 100 people there who are living with another family. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezinsverpleging_(Geel) If you translate you can read about it.
Since you're from the "local" area (Belgium), do you happen to know why the numbers have declined over the years? From this article [1] it seemed like it was hugely popular pre-WWII (3,750) with that article quoting 500 in the modern era.
Less acceptable currently, other alternatives? Still seems famous and popular, just not quite as much as it used to be.
When you read this story - your heart warms & your eyes gets filled. It is crazy nice feeling. You feel like this world is such a better place. Yet, it hurts - to know there are so many homeless that our system needs corrections.
It also reminds me that systems can’t fix situations like this. The system of “care,” as the story alludes to the autistic person experiencing in their youth, often looks a lot more like warehousing the people on the margins of society, often in unpleasant (and almost always in institutional) conditions. Some kinds of humanity can only ever happen person-to-person, and it’s a great treasure for everyone involved to encounter such an opportunity and choose to take it up.
"Incentivizing" doesn't really fix it either, as people take avantage of the incentives. You do have to make it possible for the people who do care to be able to, though.
You see far more horrific cases in the current US system where minors are cared for by members of the general public at their homes. This self selects for both ends of the spectrum people who want to do good and very bad actors.
That’s the core issue so often ignored, we need systems to deal with people at their best and their worst.
Crazy to see this story on the front page of the BBC and now Hacker News too! Ronnie was an awesome guy, and absolutely a part of Rob and Dianne's family, not a "maid" as another comment suggested.
My parents once took a struggling man in. I think he stayed with them for about three years, up until the moment I was conceived and my mom started planning for a future for our family and helped him get into a housing project. For all of my life before adulthood this man would show up once in a while on his racing bike for coffee, talk and proceed to stay for dinner. He was kind, funny and a tidbit strange. His life's story had more drama than a soap opera, but you wouldn't know it. After my father died I proceeded to look for him, but never found him. I still search online for him once in a while, fully knowing he probably isn't alive anymore and probably wouldn't use online anyways. There is some story in my head that he probably showed up to my dads doorstep once on his racing bike to find other people living there, but was too shy to ask for details. A trace lost.
As a listener and big fan of the Heavyweight podcast, I think they'd love to help you find him. That is if you're ok with sharing your story to the general public.
I read stories like these and it inspires me to think a bit deeper about things. Recently I told a friend that a good compass in one’s life is to seek out what gives you a lump in your throat, the rest are just words. Merry Christmas friends.
My son has ASD, and non-verbal so far. No matter how I prepare for his future, I still have my fear about his well-being. I can only pray, when I died, hopefully, he can live happily and feel loved :'(
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0025sr0 has a bit more information in it, but its in a radio show with a bunch of other bits and pieces. From memory its in the last quarter of the show.
He has a really lovely welsh accent.
The other thing to do is they did this largely because its what they felt was the right thing to do.
Readit News
At any university, look for the professors who act like benevolent citizens of the best of university ideals. They don't all do it in the same way, but they're some of the best.
I like to think of the university as a microcosm, and incubator, for how you'd like larger society to be.
It was greatly appreciated, and fun!
One of my friends that lived nearby spotted me walking alone and invited me over. Another of her friends joined in. It was just the three of us, and it was much, much better than spending it alone.
Less acceptable currently, other alternatives? Still seems famous and popular, just not quite as much as it used to be.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geel#A_model_of_psychiatric_ca...
I often think that they’re held back in large part by people who say “we can’t” rather than building a solution
That’s the core issue so often ignored, we need systems to deal with people at their best and their worst.
This is a such a great outlook towards living life.
He has a really lovely welsh accent.
The other thing to do is they did this largely because its what they felt was the right thing to do.