The Light - An Alumni Publication Winter 2014/2015 | Page 23

FACES OF YFU

customs and holidays in tandem with their American
traditions. “And they’re blessed to have an Oma
and Opa who love them as much as their American
Grandma and Grandpa,” she said.
The family has always enjoyed debating
complex issues — religion, politics, and education
— despite coming to those conversations with
different viewpoints. “That’s the ‘understanding’ in
Youth For Understanding,” said Gibson. “At the end
of the day, we all appreciate a bit more of the other
side of the discussion, and isn’t that what it’s all
about?”
But as the years have passed, the family has
added health care, money, and assistance for the
elderly to their discussions as Gibson shares with
her brothers the responsibility of helping Annie and
Johan navigate their path to old age.
“I’m particularly close to my Dutch mother — she
was so happy to finally get a daughter! — and my
brothers feel that she might take advice better from
me,” said Gibson. Last September, at the start of
her most recent trip to the Netherlands, her Dutch
brothers organized a meeting so the adult children

could discuss the developing needs of their parents
and decide how best to help. They strategized so
they could make the most of Gibson’s time in the
country, and she spent the next two weeks with her
Dutch parents observing their capabilities, initiating
those difficult conversations about finances and
housing, and exploring available options. 
Every night Gibson reported back to her
brothers, and together they agreed on a course of
action that would permit their parents to continue
to age in place. Gibson used the final days of her
visit to price out and implement some changes in the
home and, facing the united front of their children,
left the elder Meeres comforted and reassured.
Gibson knows her involvement will deepen as
Mama and Papa, at ages 80 and 78, become less
healthy and more dependent. But she views this
commitment as an enduring privilege rather than a
troublesome obligation, a testament to that summer
36 years ago when strangers became family. 
— Alexandra Rockey Fleming
Author/Journalist
Alexandra Rockey Fleming is a news producer
for Swedish Broadcasting. Her writing appears
in People, Good Housekeeping, and the Today
show’s site, today.com. She and her family
have hosted six long- and short-term exchange
students. This year they’re enjoying Simon, a
16-year-old from Hamburg, Germany.

Above: Annie and Johan Meere.
Opposite: Gibson with host brothers Frank and Heik-Jan, and host
parents Annie and Johan Meere in 1984.

Denise Gibson with host father Johan Meere.

YFU

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