A familiar welcome can help a person arrive fully after a difficult journey.

Getting somewhere and arriving are not the same thing. After a hard trip a person is often still partly in transit, braced for the next delay or the next difficulty. Something known and unremarkable, a usual chair, a familiar smell from the kitchen, tells the body the traveling is over and it can stop working.

When someone comes home worn out this week, reach for what they already recognize rather than something impressive. Put on the tea they always drink, keep the first hour quiet, leave the news until later. Small familiarity does more than novelty when a person is tired.