A Day in the Life of Susan’s View

by Jake Taylor (Core Member) and Abigail Hedgecock (Resident Assistant)

I can hardly make out the sound of my alarm from underneath my pillows. I reluctantly reach out from under my cozy comforter and turn off the obnoxious buzzing noise. It's 6:00am and time to begin my day.

I roll out of bed, eyes hardly open, throw on some clothes, brush my teeth, and gingerly waddle down the stairs. It's still dark and nothing but silence reverberates through the house. A once sleeping dog pokes his head up to see who's stirring and happily tells me good morning with a lick and a nudge. I walk over to the kitchen counter and with my brain half functioning, I begin to make the morning's pot of coffee–a pot that I will happily drink entirely to myself.

As the aroma of fresh coffee fills the air and the noise of water dripping hits my ears, I take a deep breathe and walk outside with our beloved dog Maverick. We meander around the farm, preparing for our day, and watching the sun rise.

By now, it's 6:45 and time for work to begin.

I walk back into the house, prepare my coffee, and write up the oh-so important schedule onto the family chalkboard. I dust the chalk from my hands and walk to the door of each of my friends.

Rat-a-tat-tat "Good morning! Good morning! It's time to get up! Good morning! Good morning!" I say in a sing-songy voice.

I hear Abigail come into my room and I think "Oh no! I have to get up! If I get up I can get a check mark." I sit up and sometimes I stay up, but some days it's hard for me to get up and I go back to sleep sometimes.

When I am awake, I go eat breakfast, do my chores, and have a check-in. During check-in we sit down and go over the schedule to see what we are going to do during the day. At the end, we do a moment of silence and stretches.

My favorite part of the day is having lunch. During lunch, sometimes we have Mac and Cheese on Mondays and a lot of times the staff comes up and hangs out with us. It's a real good time when the staff come to lunch because we can talk about what is going on.

After lunch, we usually have free time. During free time, I can watch a movie, work on a puzzle, or even go for a hike to the back of the farm.

One day, Abigail and I went to walk to the lake. We got to know each other a little more and we even found a frog and I named it Jake after me.

The days at the farm are usually slow, not slow as if they drag on–never ending, but slow as if they have a lulling, gentle, and serene quality about them. It's on walks to the back of the property with Jake that the placidness of the farm is intensified for me. We begin our trek with few words, with nothing but occasional remarks about the weather or about the house's need for firewood, but as our walk grows longer, our ability, even our need for, community and vulnerability bubbles to the surface. As we walk through the woods with a gentle breeze and the lullaby of chirping crickets, we talk about life–the hard, raw, messy parts, but also the parts that are beautiful and healing.

"I'm thankful for being at this farm and in this house." Jake says

I look back at him with a wide smile and say "Me too friend."

To know that the farm is a place of belonging for all–for people both like myself and like Jake–makes my ability to relax, to just be who I am, even easier. Together, in authenticity, we are thankful for this special place.

We walk back to the house together in what is mostly silence, letting vulnerability set-in.

At this point it's time for dinner.

We clean up our dishes and wipe down the counters and table to get ready for dinner. I usually help cut up stuff like onions, celery, basically stuff we need for the dinner.

Then, when dinner is ready, we sit down to the table and have dinner together. We start with a moment of silence. Afterwards, we talk about life at dinner. We play a game called "Rose, Bud, Thorn." The Rose is something good from your day, the bud is something that you're looking forward to for the future, and the thorn is something bad from you day. I like this game a lot.

After dinner, we clean-up together and then we have free time. Usually we watch Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, or a movie. Then it's time for bed! I hug everyone good night, take my medicine, and go to sleep.

The end.