Meet-A-Family

As everyone knows, I am a daddy’s little girl and being away from him, and my family in general, is not the easiest thing ever for me. But I feel like all of my pictures I have posted prove that it is very worth it! Over summer I applied for the Meet-A-Family program. I had to fill out some questions and my school paired me with a family that they thought would be right with me! And they did a perfect job! A girl at my school, Alyssa, was also paired with the same family. Our family consist of us two girls, a father named Ray, a mother named Pat, and a daughter named Sarah. Sarah has down syndrome , but she is the sweetest person I have met! My family is older, but they have so many stories to tell. It truly is a wonderful time. The first time we met, the father Ray came to the Manor for our “Meet-A-Family” dinner. It was a Wednesday night and Pat volunteers at Sarah’s group so they could not come. It was really nice to be able to talk and have Ray explain to us what it would be like and how Sarah is. We ate a good dinner, for once too. Haha, the refractory food is not soo good so whenever we have special dinners it’s very exciting. We talked for hours and then picked a date for Ray to pick us up and bring Alyssa and I to his house. So far we have been to their house two times and October 23^rd will make our third time. Ray picks us up at 6:15 and brings us back around 10. Each time we have driven to his house he takes different way so that we can see more of the town.  They have a cute little house, and it has always been a good time. We have dinner when w get there, which always a great thing because it keeps us from eating refractory food!! Pat is a really good cook; she even got me to eat tuna! (Which is a big deal because of how picky I am!) After dinner we have tea and desert. That normally takes a few hours because we get caught up on each other’s life and then share stories about our families and friends back home. I love drinking tea with them! They honestly do such a great job making us feel like a part of a family and it’s nice to see what it is like to really live in England. I know that I’ve been living here for well over a month now, but I live with American students. To be able to sit down, with a family and just talk about life is great. Although I have been too busy to be home sick, my family does a great job making me feel at home and keeping me from being homesick. The first time Alyssa and I met Sarah we had bought her a necklace, and of course she loved it! She wears it each time we have been over which just makes me feel good. After all the eating and talking we play cards for an hour (or two depending on how long dinner took) and it is a blast! Sarah is really good at cards and she really enjoys it, which makes it even more fun for us. We play a game called 7s, which I have never played before, but I learned very quickly…which means it can’t be that hard. We lose track of time during cards, and with all the talking able laughing, I really feel at home. I love that I was able to sign up for meet a family and I know a lot of people here who did not sign up for it who regret that. They answer questions for us, and just give us a little piece of home that helps out so much. I can’t wait to go back to their house; I’ve always had such a great time there. I really feel like I was paired up with a great family and I know that after England, I will still keep in touch with them!