Brighten Your Day

Colombian Couple Living In Boston Asks For Thanksgiving Invites, Hundreds Of Neighbors Respond

November 19, 2021

A Colombian couple looking to celebrate their first Thanksgiving in the U.S. have received hundreds of invites from complete strangers.

Credit: Susana Orrego via Nextdoor App

Susana Orrego and her husband Edward are new to the United States. Susana is a full-time student at Harvard Medical School. They are living in Brookline while she completes her two years of study for the masters program.

Upon hearing her classmates talk about their plans for Thanksgiving, Susana decided she wanted to experience the American holiday, too.

So, she took a chance and posted on the local neighborhood app "Nextdoor" explaining she wanted to spend Thanksgiving with an American family.

She wrote:

"Want to share Thanksgiving with new neighbors? This post will be super crazy but I will take the chance. My name is Susana; I'm a medical doctor, a full-time student with a Master's degree at Harvard Medical School. My husband and I recently moved to Boston, MA, and we will live here for two years (we came from Colombia). We live in Brookline at Beacon St.

We are a super lovely couple and want to know more about American Culture. I want to have our first traditional thanksgiving with an American Family. We can bring food, beverage and help with all the processes of dinner preparation. We offer to share our gratitude and friendship and share our Latin American and Colombian heritage.

If you want to share this special day with two fun, fully vaccinated and Covid-19 responsible couples, please let me know. I appreciate any help you can provide or suggestions. Have a great raining night!

Susana"

The result was over 200 invitations and responses from complete strangers.

One came from Carol Lesser, which was ultimately the offer that Susana and Edward chose to accept.

"I said to her, I felt like I won the lottery because she chose us and we get a chance to meet them," said Lesser. "She seemed so genuine in her reaching out, and I felt like we could reciprocate and show her a good side of America."