This weekend, since Thursday. I’ve seen Hamilton and I’ve been to a funeral for my aunt in Texas. In the final scene of Hamilton, he sings about having a legacy, as does his wife, Eliza. At the funeral and in the conversations at the rosary and after the mass, over and over again, we heard about my aunt’s profound consistent love for babies and expectant mothers. She’d offer to hold them, and bless every mom she encountered. Her’s was a... Read more
Having gone to confession today, I recognized that I needed to yell at God. Not because God did anything wrong, but because He’s the only One who can do anything about all that I am angry about. I cannot cure my cancer or my husband’s, though we can go to doctors, eat right and exercise and take our medications and undergo treatment. I cannot bring back my children to the faith –though I can pray and witness. I cannot fix... Read more
So I have a piece over at Catholicmom.com on being Good Fruit. Enjoy! Good Fruit Images: Canva Read more
Today, my heart feels alternatively like a stone so heavy it will fall out of my body, and like crystal shattered but still holding its shape. My aunt died over night. My aunt always had three projects she was doing, three she intended to do, and three she’d just finished (at a minimum). I remember her going to the hospital to volunteer, rocking the babies that needed extra care while their mothers recovered. She prayed rigorously, and you knew... Read more
Reports of my blog atrophying into internet nothingness are incorrect. I’d blame August sloth but this started in July…so I’ll just say summer brain. The writing fairy is still awol, and putting one word after another feels like jogging –something I do not do. However, as a writer, I’m into trying to push myself beyond how I feel, so I will make an attempt to get to 10,000 steps each day going forward, and 500 words. Ugh, I’ve done less... Read more
Monday night, Paul decided sleep was for the weak. He started singing around ten o’clock. Around half past midnight, Paul’s roommate and older brother had had enough. Having asked many times and tried multiple methods of getting him to stop, he presented Paul to us. We put him on the couch, said prayers and rubbed his feet. He closed his eyes and for the next thirty minutes, all was quiet. I woke to hear him climbing the stairs back to... Read more
I started writing back in 2004. I wrote for Lisa Hendey at Catholicmom.com from the start and still do from time to time, as part of this ministry of writing. Last week, I was on vacation with my family and two pieces ran that were part of my writing for others. Life is Sacred ran on July 7th. Over at W.I.N.E –Women in the New Evangelization, on July 10th, Go and Do Likewise posted. Going to mass while at the... Read more
In college, I took the GRE and there were all these analytical questions where if A equals C and B and D cannot be near X, where does Y go? I thought it was to see if we could logic it out in a short period of time. Here’s what I know. However, now, I have learned the true purpose. It was to plan family reunions with adult children. This may or may not happen in the future –I will... Read more
Photo by Lilartsy at Pexel I love birthdays, New Years Day, Sundays and Anniversaries, changes of season that are official. They remind me that we can restart –begin again, and discard old habits and bad tendencies and start over. Yesterday, I turned 56, and the priest blessed me after mass. I pondered how long this past year was, with the surgery, the chemo and radiation, I’d lost all my hair, turning 56 suddenly felt like a feat, a closing of... Read more
Today and yesterday, I spent from 9-3:30 on Zoom in a professional development. I understand as never before, why my students loathed with the passion of all the suns that ever shed light or heat on anything, zoom instruction. It wasn’t that what was presented was bad or poorly organized or problematic, only that Zoom instruction by its nature, agitates because it is not as active as in real life, and you spend the whole time wrestling with the passivity... Read more
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