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First time to dinner

I remember my first meal at a L’Arche home. As I walked in the door, I could smell macaroni and cheese burning in the kitchen. There was considerable commotion – part of it had to do with confusion about whose job it was to set the table, but mostly the urgency was about the toilet flowing over. Someone handed me the plunger!

After dinner something happened that I’ll never forget. Someone dimmed the light, someone else lit a candle, we joined hands, and a gentle silence settled among us. Each person prayed. Glen prayed for me: “God, thank you for bringing Patty to our house. Bless her, and bless her people. Amen.”

Patty, L’Arche friend

The Ontario home was our first home. Gordon Cosby took Dennis Calderone for a walk one day. Gordon was pastor of Church of the Saviour. Dennis was one of the founders of L'Arche Greater Washington, DC. Gordon showed Dennis three houses in the Adams Morgan neighborhood that were owned by Church of the Saviour and asked him which one would be most suitable for L'Arche. Dennis chose one of the homes on Ontario Road. It was a wreck. Dennis moved in and began renovating it. The house became a L'Arche home on October 6, 1983, when Michael, another of our founders, moved in. Soon afterward, Gene, Glen, and Nathaniel moved in. Nathaniel was very fragile medically and died within a short time. Maurice came in spring 1984. L'Arche leased the home from Church of the Saviour, paying just enough to cover the annual property taxes. Early this decade, the Church donated the property to L'Arche.