BRRR...Warm Up With A Coffee Hot Chocolate Latte Donuts! ... ?

Well, we had a good thing going with our daily cute coffee sign quotes up until today. However, it is important to mention that we tried the donuts discussed in this sign and certainly weren't disappointed.

Here we are. Our last night in Hamilton. How quickly we went from having our L'Arche journey ahead of us to look forward to, to now having it transition into a beautiful memory. Today was a day of reflection, gratefulness, and rest.

We began the day with a closing reflection at the main office with our gracious host coordinator. We got to share and learn from her many experiences throughout the years and were sent off with a beautiful blessing from two special Core Members.

Afterwards, we took off for Cafe 541 to grab some lunch together. The unique part about Cafe 541 is that you have the opportunity to purchase 'buttons' that have a $1 value. The buttons are placed in a jar and can be used to purchase food by anyone who needs them. After lunch we got to have some free time to explore the city of Hamilton. We had a nice time visiting various shops and markets and enjoyed spending time together as a group!

In the evening, we went our separate ways to have dinner one last time with our house communities and to say some tough goodbyes to the Core Members and Assistants that have greatly impacted our life in the time span of just 1 week. These faces have forever changed us <3

Each one of "The Gannon Girls" agrees that this week has been nothing short of life-changing. We are all so grateful for the experience and will truly carry the memories from this week and the hearts of our new friends with us forever.

Some of the things we've learned on our L'Arche Ontario journey:

• "Push yourselves to be uncomfortable, because the end result will be beautiful." - Favour
• How to knit (thanks Brian!) 
• "The value of all types of communication; art, performance, sign language, body language, facial expressions." - Mary Margaret
• That ketchup chips are stellar. 
• How to be more comfortable with silence.
• "To find true community is rare, but when you find it, cherish it." - Meghan
• Various words in French from reading different food products and road signs
• Picking your split ends is bad. (ahem, in the words of a dear friend: "Knock it off, M&M")
• "The importance of understanding the dignity of each human being. Life is a delicate, beautiful thing that should be cherished." - Lydia
• How to communicate certain words/phrases in sign language: 'bathroom', 'thank you', 'beautiful', 'coffee', and 'popcorn'; to name a few.
• That Lydia is extremely prone to dropping/spilling things. 
• The difference in walking WITH someone and doing things FOR them.
• All the words to "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan
• Simply put: "We learned how to encounter another human being with kindness, authenticity, and respect. We learned how to truly see God in them." - Alli

Thank you for reading along with our blog! We'll be sure to check in one last time when we return to Erie tomorrow afternoon!

- Alli & The Gannon Girls