Be a Piazza: Perspectives of a Companion In Mission

“A piazza is open and it knows people are going to come in and people are going to go out, but it is always going to stay open. …The other may come in, may reside there, and may share what he or she has with me; then the other may go back out.”  I liked the impression of ease and confidence in that image. Mary Ann, our Companion in Mission offers her final reflection of her summer experience with us.
 

One Saturday night in July, I went to a Western Dance party organized by the members of the Lordstown SCOPE. I didn’t recognize many of the songs the band played, but since I enjoyed going to dances in college, I couldn’t resist getting myself out on the dance floor and having a good time. Among the other dancers was a white-haired woman named Dorothy who came dressed for the event, complete with Western boots and a fringed shirt. I noticed she was looking for a dance partner, so I offered to join her, and I was quickly able to learn her step. A good-humored man named Frank tried to follow along with us, and he’d slump his shoulders in exaggerated defeat whenever he made a mistake. Whenever he’d start to get the hang of it, he’d smile to his spectators seated at the table to assure them he had figured it out, but at some point he would slip up again. Read more….