_Au Pair: Emelie Bertling from Sweden

Host Family: Bell Family in Maryland

Our au pair, Emelie Bertling, is a lovely young who sincerely deserves the Au Pair of the Year award. I cannot say enough good things about Emelie. She is loving, dedicated, organized, smart, safety-conscience, fun, hard-working, and absolutely wonderful. But before I go into detail about Emelie's wonderful characteristics, I will highlight how they all came together to make her my nominee for the Au Pair of the year award.

Earlier this year, after over 23 years of marriage and after Emelie had been with us for less than four months, my husband left. This abrupt and unwanted change in our lives came suddenly and turned all our lives upside down. What would have likely resulted is a year of sadness, uncertainty, resentment, and all the other negative aspects of an unexpected trajectory. But thanks to Emelie, our family is still happy, healthy and resilient. She always maintained a positive attitude, consistently showed her love for the kids as well as for me, and helped me maintain a healthy household in the face of challenging conditions and a tumultuous environment.

Not only has Emelie been instrumental in maintaining the well-being of our household, but she also nurtured the children and helped them grow and develop into wonderful people and good citizens. Sophia (16), Savannah (14) and Max (11) are very, very busy. Between the three of them, they participate in 18 different extra-curricular activities on a regular basis. Not only does Emelie get them to all their events on time, safely, and well-prepared, but she also takes them to their medical appointments, social events, and other appointments. When she isn't busy managing their busy schedules, she helps me manage the house, assists the neighbors, oversee homework, ensures chores are completed, reminds them to practice their instruments, ensures they get their exercise, makes them a healthy snack, takes them shopping, or does something special to lift their spirits.

We've had au pairs for the past sixteen years. All of them have been special in their own way, and many have been absolutely outstanding. But Emelie is the best ever. She has truly been a blessing to us, and is most deserving of this year's Au Pair of the Year award.