My parents met in college. My dad attended the University of Pittsburgh and my mom went to Carlow College. They married in 1971, became immersed in the Jesus People movement, and had six children in our Pittsburgh years. This is my teen-Natalie version of the story of our move from East Liberty in Pittsburgh to Cambridge Springs, a tiny northwestern Pennsylvania town. It had its heyday during the popular Mineral Water Cure treatments of the late 1800s. Massive hotels were built to accommodate those who came to “take the waters” and exercise along the boardwalk. Tens of thousands came yearly to the small town, situated precisely in the middle between Chicago and New York City. When the Water Cure fad passed, hotels were converted into other kinds of businesses. President Taft even came to the ribbon-cutting of the largest hotel, the Rider, when it became the home of Alliance College.

In 1984, my parents and a group of their friends decided to buy the Riverside Inn. I believe it was the only remaining operating hotel in Cambridge at the time (historians: feel free to correct me on this). My parents were going to run the place and others offered additional capital. My dad quit his job at Presby Hospital, we stored our furniture at Grandma & Grandpap White’s, and we moved to Cambridge Springs. The closing on the property hadn’t happened yet, but Mom and Dad wanted us to be able to start the school year in our new borough, and Mom and Dad would have the benefit of learning how the current owners operated the hotel. We initially slept in Grandma & Grandpap White’s camper on the Riverside grounds. It was pretty tight quarters for a family of eight, and I distinctly remember my brother Isaac, the youngest at the time, sleeping in the bathtub.

We ate our meals in the hotel with the staff. It was my introduction to grits and to peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I guess the owners felt bad for us being crammed into the camper, because they soon moved us into some suites in the hotel in a wing they’d closed to the public. The Riverside Inn sat on a heavenly piece of property along the banks of French Creek and we wasted no time exploring it. Other things weren’t so idyllic. The library was conveniently located a block from the hotel, but I cried the first time I entered it. For a girl who’d only known Pittsburgh’s Carnegie libraries, the small space was a shock to my young self. I was similarly shocked by the fact that schools were closed for the first day of buck season and by the subsequent view of deer carcasses hanging from trees so they could bleed out. We had not seen such things in Pittsburgh.

I don’t remember how or when our parents told us the Riverside owners had pulled out of their agreement in exchange for a cash buyer. It’s not my story to tell and I don’t actually know much about it. I only know how I experienced it as a thirteen year old. But when I look at that time with the benefit of looking back forty years, my main amazement centers on my parents. Look back at that top photo! They were in their early thirties. They had six kids. They lived 2 1/2 hours from all their friends and support systems and had nowhere to live and no jobs. And Mom was pregnant with my brother Samuel. I cannot even begin to fathom the amount of stress they were under and how they began to wade through it.

This is when the Cambridge Springs community showed their mettle. Amanda, Vanessa, Ethan and I had started the academic year at Schooling Pro Rege, a small Christian school housed at Alliance College. Families in the school and other Christian families in town, all who we barely knew us, took turns letting us stay in their homes. Remember – there were EIGHT of us coming to stay. It is such a remarkable testament to Believers who took Scripture literally, welcoming strangers into their homes.

“Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” (Hebrews 13:2, NLT)¹

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.” (Matthew 25:35, NLT)

“Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.” (1 Peter 4:9)

Directives in the Bible about hospitality occur over 100 times but unfortunately aren’t often taught. My parents had given hospitality to so many in our years in Pittsburgh that I can’t remember all the names of those who lived with us. But now my parents needed to receive the hospitality they had so freely given.

The David and Katie White family received the hospitality we needed. Amanda, Ethan, and I were talking about it the other day and Amanda reminded me that Dad used to walk through the door of Tom and Betsy Henning’s house in the evening and call out, “Honey, I’m home!” to Betsy Henning et al. Besides showing my dad’s efforts to infuse humor into a stressful situation, it reveals the generosity of spirit of our hosts. All four host homes made us feel like their home was our home. I don’t ever once remember feeling “in the way.” And believe me, eight people had to have been in the way.

Dad and Mom bought a house on Thomas Street while they figured out what their next steps should be. The photo below is all of us kids on the front porch swing with our newest sibling, Samuel.

Ultimately, they would buy the 1876 Amos Kelly house on Main Street. They converted it into Bethany Guest House, a bed and breakfast much smaller than the Riverside, but still with their same mission. It is (to my understanding) the only house remaining in Cambridge Springs on the National Register of Historic Places. That story will get its own blog post someday.

The Riverside Inn was completely destroyed by fire in 2017. It was a horrific loss.

Like most other people who lived in the area, the Riverside was a place of lovely memories for me: my siblings had worked there, two of my brothers held their weddings on the grounds, and I’d been crowned Prom Queen in the ballroom (with Mom and my boyfriend’s mom standing on chairs and cheering loudly in the back of the room).

But when I think of the Riverside Inn, I think of the long weeks we were homeless and Cambridge Springs showed our family her heart.

Thank you.