1.  Our names are important.  They not only can identify us in the crowd, but also can give meaning to our very life.  Hope's mother named her Tulip at birth because she had seen an actress run through a bed of tulips "as happy as could be," and she wanted to think of her daughter that way.  But, Hope experienced her name as a curse and changed it because "I think hope is just about the best thing a person can have." 

What is the meaning of your given name?  If you don't know it, find out.

Does your name fit you? Why or why not?

What quality of life would you like your life to stand for?

What would it be like for you to be called by that name?

2.  Hope is a pilgrim, moving from one place to another.  When she and Aunt Addie left Brooklyn "on to greener pastures" (Addie's words), she admitted to leaving "the best place I've ever known in my whole life."  Recall a time when you have had to leave behind some place or some thing or some one. 

What emotions did you experience? 

How did you cope with those emotions? 

How did what was ahead of you (even if you did not know exactly what that would be) help you in any way deal with the separation?

3.  It was important for Hope to make a difference wherever she was.  Whenever she left a place, she had the habit of writing "Hope was here" "real small someplace significant just to make the statement that I'd been there and made an impact."

Identify how you have made an impact on others at some point in your life.

How did you feel about life at that time?

How has the memory of that event sustained you in any way during future events that may not have been so grand?

4.  The diner to which they were going in Mulhoney, WI, was called the Welcome Stairways.  It was named after the Quaker style of building welcome stairways at their front door.  People could come from either the right or the left and be welcomed.  The proprietor, G.T. Stoop recalled his childhood home with such steps and how his mother interpreted the significance of those steps in the larger picture of life: "The stairways symbolized how we must greet whatever changes and difficulties life may bring with firm faith in God." 

How can faith in God help you deal with "whatever changes and difficulties life may bring"?

In what place have you felt most welcomed in your life time?

What has happened there that you would say this to be true?

What are some ways that you can add to the welcoming experience for others in the places where you live or work or recreate?

5.  Though Addie was not Hope's mom, she raised her from infancy as her own.  Hope experienced Aunt Addie as her "number-one constant" who knew how to hug her "with permanence."

What does being someone’s number-one constant mean? What does Hope mean when she says that Aunt Addie hugs her “with permanence?”

Who in your life could be described in that way for you?

In what ways has that person instilled hope in your outlook on life?

6.  Observing the pressures she and Lou Ellen are under as waitresses, Hope concludes, "Even when you're not in school, life is a test." 

Identify and share three of the real situations in your daily life that test one's mind, whether one can "cut the mustard...[and] know how to handle turmoil."

Describe Hope's work ethic.  If you were her employer, would you give her an A, B, C, D or F for her waitressing?  Explain your reasons. 

How did her attitude about work help her deal with her situation?

Laced throughout the story is the thread of humor, stitching together torn fragments of Hope's life.  How does humor help you get through difficult times, when life is a test?

7.  G.T. has leukemia, a serious form of cancer.  Yet, he is far more interested in living than in dying.  He knows he's only got a short time to live, so he wants to bring "as much healthy change into this town (Mulhoney) as I can before I go."

How are you bringing "as much healthy change" into your family, school, neighborhood before you go (whether that means moving, graduating or dying)?

What is your ground of hope for your family, school, neighborhood?

Who are some of the people in your neighborhood who are among the beacon's of hope for the future of the community?

8.  The absent parent is an important theme in Hope Was Here.  Hope is disappointed that her mother never took an active interest in her life.  They only saw each other a couple times since her birth.  Hope held a deep desire that her father would recognize her on the TV (due to the political campaigning she did for G.T.) and come racing to see her, which he never did.  G.T. makes this comment to Hope regarding disappointments: "I think that if we face them down, they can become our strengths."

What do you think G.T. meant by this?

How do you face down disappointments in daily life?

Drawing upon your own experience or that of a friend, describe the feelings that fill a young person's heart when he or she must deal with an "absent parent."

What can be of real help to the individual who must deal with this reality in life?

9.  Another major theme to Hope's maturing story is that of citizenship.  G.T. decides to run for mayor of Mulhoney against Eli Millstone.  G.T. has been involved in the community before as a member of the school board and as one who helped build the emergency health center.  He wants what is best for his home town of twenty-five years.  Hope and a whole corps of high school youth become very active in his campaign, which has its challenges.  Supporters of G.T. had their homes burglarized.  Someone tried to discredit G.T. by planting a mouse in a salad.  Businesses pulled their ads from the local newspaper that was covering the campaign carefully.  There turns out to be suspected fraud in the counting of ballots.
 
How are you a responsible, young citizen in the community of Chagrin Falls (area)?

Respond to the statement: In politics it is important to win at any cost and by any means, so that you are in a position of power to make the changes you think necessary for the community.
 
Where in our community do you see confirmation of G.T.'s statement, "Politics isn't about power, control, or manipulation.  It's about serving up your very best"?

10.  Bullying is one of the methods Eli Millstone uses to win the election.  Braverman is beat up to stop him from speaking up in public.  G.T. is personally intimidated and his business is targeted by a hearse that is parked in front of the diner day after day.  Rather than stop talking, Braverman becomes more bold.  Rather than fold, G.T. invites the driver of the hearse in for a meal.  Sid Vole, a diner's customer, says, "This is risky. Meeting the enemy." 

Where do you see bullying being used to control people's behavior?

If we do not let our fears rule us, how effective can a bully be?

What are some other methods of persuasion that can be used to effect change or circumscribe behavior that would be acceptable in a civil society?

11.  Our hopes do not always get realized the way we imagine them being fulfilled.  Hope finally realized that in G.T. her fantasies about her Dad were truly being fulfilled.  Her biological father just could not measure up to what G.T. had to offer.  G.T. sat in rapt attention while Hope went through her scrapbooks with him, so that he could have an "in-depth tour" of the life of his new step-daughter.  In a symbolic act, G.T. grafted a branch from one small potted tree to another (both of which were a wedding gift from Pastor Hall when G.T. and Addie got married).  He said to Hope, "We didn't start from the same tree, but we're going to grow together like we did."

When have you been surprised how a hope of yours was fulfilled in a way you least expected?

Who are the people in your life who are your "hope-fillers"?

When have you ever been a hope-filler for someone else? 

12.  G.T. finally succumbed to his leukemia and died.  But, not before he served as mayor of Mulhoney for one-and-a-half years to bring about that healthy change he promised; not before he was father to Hope, who concluded, "A father isn't just woven from strands of DNA.  A true father is dedicated and unshakably there for his kid every single day."

How are any hopes buried with us when we die?

What impact does your answer have on how you live today?

How are any hopes kept alive beyond our death?

What impact does your answer have on how you are involved in family and community?

13.  Two love stories develop in Hope Was Here.  One is between G.T. and Addie, who eventually marry.  The other is between Braverman and Hope, who go their separate ways to college and we don't know what will become of their relationship.

What truth do you find in this statement: Without love hope would not be worth the effort.

What truth do you find in this statement: Without hope love would not be worth the effort.

What is the relationship between hope and love?

14.  Pastor Al B. Hall and the Gospel of Grace church provided a guiding, encouraging, serving role in the community.  Pastor Hall was in a deep and genuine relationship with G.T.; the members of the congregation were involved in the community by providing transportation to the polls for the election and serving hot chocolate and donuts the night Eli resigned as mayor; they established a 24-hour family shelter. 

How does your spiritual life and/or your religious tradition ground you in hope?

How does your spiritual life and/or your religious tradition encourage your participation in the life of the faith community (church) or the neighborhood?

How are you helping to mentor anyone in their experience of hope?

15.  When all is said and done, we are often left with the mundane experiences of life staring us in the face day after day, like fixing food at a diner for a steady stream of customers.  Yet, Addie had a philosophy about this that lifted the mundane into a higher plane of appreciation.  She defined her work in this way: "We are in the heart business."  She saw that philosophy come to life by a man who "laughed with pure joy [after finishing a] second bowl of split pea soup brimming with fat ham chunks and garlic butter croutons" and by Harold who proposed to his beloved "at table nine."

What mundane activities in your life are transformed into something meaningful by your hope?

What experiences in your life have yet to be transformed by the hope that is in you?