Dear Roger, Susan, Phil, Joe, Nemo, John, and Lexa,
Thanks very much for the encouragement, and for the suggestions. Tweak added to L2 above.
Susan (and Lexa), I appreciate the "Open Door" title suggestion, but I like the blandness of "Hospitality," in part because (for me at least) that term carries a certain class-and-culture-signifying vibe that is often associated with religious conservatism and its narrowly defined gender role expectations.
Lexa, I've decided that I do want to keep "cheer," but perhaps adding "hungry" to that line will provide some needed guidance on what prompted such a cheer. Better that than leaving the reader to conjecture that the narrator had really bad body odor or something else that made the kids really happy that he/she was leaving the room.
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