PLEASE PRAY FOR MY MOM: MRS. GOD GIRL NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT

Dear Friends and Passersby of Good Will:

My mother, Helen, was diagnosed late last week with breast cancer — invasive lobular carcinoma — in both breasts and will have to have a double mastectomy in the coming weeks. We’re shocked, as you might imagine, as Helen is healthy, flinty and seemingly indestructible. She’s fierce, a giant of faith — our very own Queen Esther in high-heeled espadrilles and a matching purse.

Please pray for her (and us), in whatever way you pray or meditate or send out vibes (or spill some of your 40 on the ground or burn some incense, light a candle or let your prayer flags flap.)

We firmly believe in the power of prayer and know that the more positive energy, loving thoughts and prayers focused on Mom, the better.

Thank you in advance for remembering Mom and the rest of us as we face the taxing next few months (as this comes on the heels of my father being told he might have Parkinson’s disease.) We’re still laughing, humor being the saving grace in the Falsani-Page-Aloi-Lynch-Possley clan. But some days … it’s harder to find the funny than it used to be.

So I appreciate a good laugh right now more than ever. Case in point: When I sent a note to a few close friends last week letting them know what was going on with Mom, I got a response from one of my best friends, Jen, that made me laugh out loud. In the short note, I said what the diagnosis was and asked, ‘Please pray for Mom.’ Jen’s note in response said:

Oh fuck.

I couldn’t agree more. Jen called quickly to apologize, saying she hadn’t meant that to be a prayer. But laughing (for the first time in a while), I told her it was most definitely a prayer. I know what that means and so does God. It’s like what Pastor Annie says, the two best prayers there are are “Help me, help me, help me” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” So, “oh fuck” it is.

Something CS Lewis said also comes to mind in moments like these:

What seem our worst prayers may really be, in God’s eyes, our best. Those, I mean, which are least supported by devotional feeling. For these may come from a deeper level than feeling. God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when he catches us, as it were, off our guard.

Again, we covet your spiritual support, positive thoughts and kindness.

Love love love,

Cathleen