Some of the work being done at Inn Along the Way. (Photo courtesy Sherry Flint)
Author Joan Chittister writes that “equality and community, service and mutual support takes many forms … Simply staying close to the mechanical functions of what it means to get through a day — running the vacuum, washing the dishes, shoveling the snow, doing the laundry, peeling the vegetables, cleaning out the car, making the bed, bathing the children — keeps us all, men and women, aware of the struggles embedded in every dimension of life. It makes us aware of the burdens carried by those around us, in the family and the neighborhood whose full lives we would otherwise never know. It gives us a sense of what it means to be a fully human human being. That kind of shared work makes a family a family and a community a community.”
Every day, Inn Along the Way practices the shared work of community. The inn is a physical place where people gather: older adults in need of company, those who are doing the exhausting, invisible work of tending ill or dying loved ones, families who come with questions about how best to support aging parents, those who are grieving losses. As a gathering place, every day there is the good work of cooking to be done, rooms to be cleaned, laundry to be done.
More importantly, Inn Along the Way is a way of being shared community — a community of support, a way of being independent interdependently as aging unfolds. Inn Along the Way’s essential gift is of respite and it is offered in many ways: a shared home-cooked meal gathered around a table with flowers on it. A Sunday afternoon open mic in the barn. In the shape of an art workshop, a group bird walk, a knitting or singing circle, deep diving workshops and talks, A sunny bunch of summer flowers. A quiet room for rest.
Supporting one another as we age, face illness, wrestle with grief, confront dying, and all the swirling questions these experiences of being human surface is hard and necessary work. At Inn Along the Way, we wouldn’t have it any other way. It invites us daily to learn again and again what it means to be a fully human human being. Indeed it is very good work. Join us in it!
Remember, if you’ve lost a loved one and are grieving; are a caregiver, in need of support; if you are at a point of transition and in need of a sounding board or friendly companionship, you are not alone. Call 751-6261 or email info@innalongtheway.org.
(Inn Along the Way is a nonprofit with the goal of transforming the historic Chapman Farm in Damariscotta into an innovative, neighborhood-style setting for older adults and caregivers. For more information, go to innalongtheway.org.)
