50p
A Hope House Hug
Hope House has been an abundance of laughter, a surplus of social distancing struggles, and a bounty of gratitude since we have arrived back. From the start of our online house meeting on January 14th, to the second all of us walked back into our second home on January 17th, the energy has been building. It has been almost a month since we have seen each other and the urge to hug, scream, laugh or cry is almost uncontrollable, yet we have to resist the urge to touch.
Memorably, during our first sign-in back on campus, I watched Maggie Z, Hope ‘24 and Ally D, Hope ‘21 encounter each other with a surge of affection. They paced back and forth keeping a two metre distance, at a complete loss of what to do to display their feelings. “Well, do a little dance or something at least” teased Ms Hedquist as she watched all of Ally’s affection move her to tears. They quite literally broke into the weirdest dance I’ve ever seen. This type of love is what is flowing through the walls of Hope House right now and we have all learned to turn our excitement into, as Ms Hedquist would say, “a little dance”.
Doorways and hallways have become the sites for social distanced gatherings. Girls are playing cards, blaring music, singing, chatting, and enjoying each other’s company - masked and from afar. Kennedy M, Hope ‘21 notes that “It’s been really nice being back” and one of her favourite things is “going into the bathroom and hearing people having shower parties”. Shower parties - for my readers who do not live in a girls’ boarding house - are gatherings in the showers (separate shower stalls) where the girls become connected through music and potential singing; I mean, why shower alone if you could shower together? “It’s very evident that no mask can cover or quash the smile of a Hope girl”.
Abby W, Hope ‘24 reflects on the most important part of the house which is “knowing that everyone here supports you no matter what and knowing that everyone is there for you even if they can’t touch”. If there is one thing that I’ve learned from being in Hope House, it’s that through it all, we have each other. We may not be able to hug each other physically, but a Hope Hug is truly a sentiment rather than an action.
Zosia S, Hope ‘21
Memorably, during our first sign-in back on campus, I watched Maggie Z, Hope ‘24 and Ally D, Hope ‘21 encounter each other with a surge of affection. They paced back and forth keeping a two metre distance, at a complete loss of what to do to display their feelings. “Well, do a little dance or something at least” teased Ms Hedquist as she watched all of Ally’s affection move her to tears. They quite literally broke into the weirdest dance I’ve ever seen. This type of love is what is flowing through the walls of Hope House right now and we have all learned to turn our excitement into, as Ms Hedquist would say, “a little dance”.
Doorways and hallways have become the sites for social distanced gatherings. Girls are playing cards, blaring music, singing, chatting, and enjoying each other’s company - masked and from afar. Kennedy M, Hope ‘21 notes that “It’s been really nice being back” and one of her favourite things is “going into the bathroom and hearing people having shower parties”. Shower parties - for my readers who do not live in a girls’ boarding house - are gatherings in the showers (separate shower stalls) where the girls become connected through music and potential singing; I mean, why shower alone if you could shower together? “It’s very evident that no mask can cover or quash the smile of a Hope girl”.
Abby W, Hope ‘24 reflects on the most important part of the house which is “knowing that everyone here supports you no matter what and knowing that everyone is there for you even if they can’t touch”. If there is one thing that I’ve learned from being in Hope House, it’s that through it all, we have each other. We may not be able to hug each other physically, but a Hope Hug is truly a sentiment rather than an action.
Zosia S, Hope ‘21