Friday, July 30, 2021

Connecting

Karen Horton

The Ronald McDonald House in Bangor, Maine used to hold annual retreats for the families of children being treated for cancer. Extremely generous donors made these events possible. The retreats were intended to help families facing similar difficult circumstances form connections. My husband and I and our two sons attended the retreats for several years. A hundred or so participants would gather at a hotel and conference center in Bar Harbor for the weekend after Labor Day. We chatted with other families while sharing buffet meals at large tables in the common dining room. Over the weekend adults and kids enjoyed ice cream socials, live comedy shows with human-sized puppets, walks in Acadia National Park, karaoke, mini-golf, boat tours, and lobster bakes. There were plenty of things to do but we also had plenty of time to converse. The adults spent time with new and returning friends who shared their worries and their care-giving experiences, and who were good losers at mini-golf. The kids whose lives had been disrupted by hospitalizations and frequent clinic visits hung out together and laughed at the puppets, sang their favorite songs for an appreciative karaoke audience, and squabbled over mini-golf scores. We made meaningful personal connections. We also had fun.

At St. John’s I look forward to having all the spaces where we worship, sing, learn, serve, converse, and have fun connected and accessible to all. I hope this physical connector will help us grow personal and spiritual connections. I thank everyone involved in this project for their incredible generosity.