The Daily Scoop

I find my daily life here in Syracuse to be like a vanilla cone with sprinkles from Plank Road Ice Cream. It’s a whole lot of good sweetness, filling, and something to be shared.

The drive out to Plank Road often fills my heart with excitement and prepares me for the best $2.95 purchase of my life, just like my 5:30 AM alarm. It is time to begin the biggest treat of all, my day. I slowly peel out of my bed, half-heartedly put myself together, and make my way to the door to head to the gym. I’ve learned the importance of spending just a little bit of extra time in the morning to go to the gym and slowly get ready for the day with exercise, spiritual reading (currently The Journey and The Dream, by Murray Bodo, OFM.), and a cup of tea.  It is an act of inner love that will flow outward later to my service site and community, similar to how the music of the drive, the sunset behind us, and the gentle conversations with my community members sets me up for a delicious treat. 

As I pull into the parking lot of the ice cream shop, I’m struck by how similar I feel as I unlock the green door to Francis House every morning– with a big smile on my face, ready to take in the best treat. Each day at Francis House is like a different flavor of ice cream. Sometimes my Francis House treat is the care plans of residents for a day on the floor. Sometimes, it’s the meal tickets of residents and families and big bowls of cookie dough in the kitchens. And some days it is a Canva grind.

When I get to Francis House, I know I am in my growth zone. It is the time where I am deliberately formed and shaped by the interactions I have. My residents are constantly teaching me how to live and to love. They teach me to savor the moments of life with my friends and family, to slowly sipping on a diet coke with a friend. on a diet coke with a friend. The twelve volunteers I work with each day show me how to serve others with deep love, intention, and attention whether that be through offering cups of coffee and food to family members or making sure a meal is made the way the resident likes it best. My caregivers and staff members teach me the holistic way to embrace the end of life and to help celebrate each moment with each person who enters into the family. They also teach me the best places to go get ice cream after a long day of work.

One of the hidden gems of my day is that at 11:30 AM staff and guests of Francis House gather together to pray. On Tuesdays I lead our community prayer and love that it provides a spot for me to practice a core spiritual value of mine- “ora et labora”- directly translated to prayer and work. Keeping space for prayer, for this regrounding in the Gospel work, helps me increase in kindness and hope amidst the work I do. This is comparable to the space between paying for your ice cream and watching the employees at Plank’s twist and twirl the cone to get each layer of perfectly stacked, creamy ice cream, ready to be dunked in the rainbow sprinkles. It is calming. It is filled with anticipation. It is time to chat with my friends as I wait. It’s the in between grounding time.

My favorite new addition to my ice cream order is rainbow sprinkles. This topping goes by many names: sprinkles, nonpareils, and, my personal favorite, hundreds and thousands. The addition of these little burst of vibrancy and texture reflect the evening of my day. When the 4 o’clock bell rings, I find myself walking Court street, sometimes carrying a Costco size haul of toilet paper, heading towards home. My evenings are all different (like each sprinkle), but usually I find some form of movement, a hobby, a phone call, or my list of “hundreds and thousands” tasks. My time of fun in the evenings adds the color and texture to my days, switching up the routine, and adding that extra spunk.

Community life becomes very present here in the evening with people coming home from work. This year, I’ve learned that community living can be communal, but it can also be sharing solo time together; just like eating ice cream. We do it together and sometimes share a bite with each other, but usually we each have our own cone to enjoy in each others company. We always share a meal with each other and end the evening in prayer. Just like getting to the cone, it’s a stable and constant portion of my day that supports me in my ministry.

Some days, I get the ice cream tummy ache of life, when a beloved resident passes or life catches up to me, but like going for an ice cream, I am always grateful for the gift that is a day/tummy filled with a sprinkle of colorful joy.

Categories: General

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