by Tree Hershberger, Residential Director
The chapel at L’Arche Tahoma Hope is a very special place. It features a big rock wall and a beautiful stained glass window both of which cause one to pause and take in the beauty.
This chapel has held many dear memories. Father Jimmy used to hold mass there. During those mass celebrations, Ricky Durham, a core member here, got to live into his priestly calling, by offering mass alongside Fr. Jimmy. Stacie Swanson, a core member who passed away in March, would sashay in, take her shoes off, sit criss-cross applesauce on the floor, and fart through the entire mass — always blaming it on Fr. Jimmy. For years, the community would all pack into this small chapel on Good Friday after doing the stations of the cross together. It’s where we used to gather together when someone in the community had died. It’s held many different kinds of prayer services and meditation times. All this is to say: it’s a very special place.
And it was an incredibly special place for Sue Hudacek, who passed away last December. As a way to honor the life that Sue devoted to this community, we have endeavored to do a big cleanup and restoration of the chapel! It has gotten a new roof, a nice stain, new door, fresh paint, and the beginnings of a patio with a pergola outside its windows.
One tradition Sue had with the core members, especially Sharilynn, was to paint rocks and take them to the graves of the family and friends Sharilynn was missing. So one aspect of this new patio and pergola, will be a small rock garden where people can paint a rock to remember those they are missing, and add it to the rocks others have painted.
Our Maintenance Magician Greg and I got the honor of working on these projects with the Young Episcopalians in Service group from Colorado. For four days they were here from 9am-3pm, sometimes later because they wanted to keep working. They painted and stained and dug and cleaned and hauled rocks and worked incredibly hard. About halfway through the week Greg and I realized what a gift this is. The amount of work they were able to accomplish in four days would have taken us months and the reality is, this project wouldn’t have been able to happen without their energetic and generous help.
After final touches are completed, we will have a dedication of the chapel later this summer, likely mid-September. Keep your eyes peeled for details on that if you’re interested.
We’d love your help if you’d like to pitch in! You can donate in memory of Sue or check in with us about volunteering your time. The chapel is a very special place because people just like you have made it what it is.
