My Gillian, Love

Well I just had one of the best groups of the year! It was our last group before our Christmas break, and everyone who came was a young adult. The group had amazing energy! I was paired with Gillian Groves, a girl that I've met a few times before. She came in a few months ago and spent the weekend with Kate. I was very excited to be with her because I remembered that she was a fan of the Carpenters and Neil Diamond, two of my very favorite musicians! Gillian is 24 and she lives at home with her parents. She is well taken care of, which is obvious when you meet her family. It is great for her to come here because she gets to be social, which is definitely something that appeals to her nature. Gillian is so friendly and sweet. She spent the weekend calling me Claire Love and singing "Forever in Blue Jeans" our shared favorite Neil song. Also on our "playlist" was "Oh Happy Day", "We've Only Just Begun", and "All I Want for Christmas is You." She was singing from the moment she came in the house to the moment she got in her sister's car today. Gillian is always in good form and is thankful for everything, which makes it so easy to be with her. She does, however, tend to spit quite a bit when she speaks, which takes some getting used to, especially at meals... She has cerebral palsy which keeps her in a chair, but she drives herself around and she transfers herself. It's amazing how strong she is! It was such a joy to have her. Although, I must admit that it wasn't so great when she patted my stomach at dinner on Friday and told me I needed to lose a few kilos (pounds). haha A true statement, yet unpleasant just the same. But other than that I was on cloud nine for the entire three days. We had dinner at the house on Friday for which I made a dessert. I made chocolate cheesecake bars and they were good, even though I couldn't find candy canes to garnish them with. (Seriously, Ireland sucks sometimes.) Saturday we went shopping and out to lunch in the afternoon and then we came back for dinner. After our meal we went to see Where the Wild Things Are in the evening. It was really fun to go out to a late movie, and the members loved it! We went to Mass in the village this morning and came back for tacos before everyone headed off around four. Gillian's sister came an hour early, which was sad. I didn't have nearly enough time to sing with her today. :)

Now I'm just cleaning up and relaxing. Most of us are heading home tomorrow, but I'm not leaving until Tuesday afternoon. I'm feeling really sad that I won't be home for Christmas, but I am so lucky to be able to spend it with my friend Audrey who is living in Germany right now. Her husband Andre's family was generous enough to invite me to stay with them for the holidays. :) So I'm counting my blessings and wishing everyone home a blessed Christmas!

Love you all,
Claire