Grace-on-the-Hill
Q A &
How have humor and laughter brought you together as a community?
Hannah Roberts: We laugh a lot. I think David was the first one to really start cracking jokes. It was a way that we all kind of bonded, and it’ s been something that has kind of sustained us as a house.
David Gorman: One of my favorite things about coming home is telling funny stories about our days around the dinner table. Some of us work with kids, so there are always a lot of fun stories to tell.
Paige Trivett: I think laughter has been a very necessary part of our community. A lot of times, especially at the end of the year, it was one of the ways that we got to know each other. A lot of our early perceptions of each other were based on our senses of humor. We learned a lot about each other’ s likes and dislikes through that as well.
What do you guys look forward to most about coming home every day?
Lissie Baker: When I applied to Grace-on-the-Hill, there was some trepidation. I thought,“ I’ m moving in with five strangers. Is this a dumb idea?” But thankfully, they were five strangers who were interested in doing similar work and in living intentionally. So I know that when I come home it’ s going to be clean, it’ s going to be calm.
HR: My favorite thing about coming home is that I’ m usually one of the last people to get off of work, and I love to see who is going to be sitting on the front porch when I walk up. Like,“ Who’ s going to be sitting on the porch reading?” And catching up and chatting about our day on the front porch.
Bernadette Aylward: There’ s always a lot of joy here. We definitely have a different lifestyle than a lot of people, and we’ re missing out on some things because of that, but I think we gain so much in each other. That’ s great to come home to.
PT: I like that there’ s no children here. I work with children, often more than eight hours a day, and it’ s nice to have people around you that understand logic and reasoning and cooperation. Because sometimes kids don’ t understand those things.
David Gorman: We actually love kids, by the way. Let the record show that we genuinely enjoy working with children!
... Continued on page 24
PHOTO: ASHLEY CAMERON
PHOTO: ASHLEY CAMERON
PHOTO: AMY ROBBINS
VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN / SUMMER 2016 23