Joan, This may fix things...
Have your friend:
1. Click once on the Word document to select it.
2. Get Info (Command + I)
3. When the next window opens, toggle the "Open With" and select "Word" if that option is present. If not, choose "Other" and navigate to the Word Application and then select that.
4. When presented with the option to "Change All", do so.
From now on, all such documents should open in Word.
Harv