We went to the beach. I wish I could tell you just how much wishing, prayer, longing and despair I’ve done, in the past fourteen years, about going to the beach– about going anywhere. I’ve been living in Steubenville without my own transportation for fifteen years– chronically ill, riding the bus, walking when my health allowed. This year we have a car. I told Rosie we were going to a state park with a lake and a beach. Those... Read more
It has been about fifteen months since the first COVID-19 death in America. About fourteen since the lockdown began last March. Fourteen months ago, churches all over the country shut down public Masses, non-essential businesses closed, and we went home to shelter in place. Now, mostly thanks to vaccination, we seem to be pulling through. New cases and death rates are way down in America. Everything’s opening up. Catholic dioceses who still had a dispensation from the Sunday obligation in... Read more
We were running errands when we stopped by the church. This is what we do now. I have a car, and I take Rosie on errands. Today was exciting because we got an extra big tip in the tip jar after a horribly lean month. We paid down the bills just in time to avoid shutoff without bouncing the rent check, and then we drove to Wal Mart and Aldi to buy everything we’d run out of, and then we... Read more
I had to buy coffee, so I went out early. And then I decided that I was too lazy to go home and make coffee, so I bought a cup of iced coffee and drank it in my car. It was too bright and sunny to drink coffee in the car in the parking lot, so I drove down the block to Union Cemetery. I have gone for walks in Union Cemetery time and again, every year since I came... Read more
Hello folks, I just want to notify you of three things I’ve been up to when I wasn’t here, and some ways for us to perform the Works of Mercy. First of all: for those of you who have been waiting patiently for my book to come out: it’s been delayed, twice by my count. But it’s still coming, and it will now be released on June 10, just twenty-two days from now. You can already preorder it here.... Read more
It started with a photo of diapers. My friend Father Schneider shared a photo of a stack of free diapers and wipes in the men’s room at the grocery store, with a sign that said “Here for life’s little emergencies, please help yourself.” He said he was glad to see things like this to help parents out. Another priest, Father Stinson, retweeted this with “we should put these in our parishes TBH,” and a lot of people jumped on... Read more
Things are slowly inching back to normal after a year of horror. Here in Ohio, the governor is going to lift the mask regulations in June, and along with that lifting comes the grand re-opening of churches: the dispensation for Sunday Mass will be lifted by the bishops in Ohio very soon. And this is good, because Mass is very important. I’ve been going back to Mass in person most weeks since a little before Easter, and I’m especially... Read more
It was one of those days where I just want to disappear. I wished I could fall through a crack or dissolve into steam like the Wicked Witch of the West. Anxiety does that to a person. I was driving downtown to report one more episode of harassment by our neighbor, and to talk with the police about what evidence I would need to file a restraining order. Police scare me to death, but I didn’t know what else... Read more
Rosie is finishing up her third grade lessons. She is looking forward to a few weeks off in the summer. We homeschool year round, but she’s made such progress this year, I promised her all of July as a holiday if she’ll only be good through June. She is most looking forward to being free of the math book, which is sad because she’s quite good at math. But she finds this particular curriculum extremely tiresome and not very easy... Read more
It’s finally after Mother’s Day– in Ohio that means the chance of frost is gone. The lettuce and kale that survived last winter’s snow is bolting. It’s time to get out there and garden. I love gardening so much; it’s great for my mental health and it’s good exercise. I feel so proud and helpful when I can bring a bag of bush beans or lettuce to the Friendship Room to share. My idea of a perfect home would have... Read more
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