Meeting Isaac, our grandchild of laughter
It's funny how making a schedule really doesn't have much to do with life, especially when that life belongs to a newborn baby. It was a cold, grey Friday afternoon when my husband and I packed up our car -- loading it with clothing, gifts, groceries and our two dogs -- and headed west. We h...Read full story »
Monday, March 10, 2014
Thanksgiving for a 'long, good and wonderful life'
The email that I had been dreading arrived early in the morning. It was from my cousin Mary, who lives in Arizona. “Mom died this morning at around 4:30 our time,” she said. “She had a long struggle with letting go, and we had a wonderful Irish nun spend time with her yesterday. S...Read full story »
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Harsh winds and the poor among us
The wind was blowing so harshly against the siding on my house that morning that it woke me up before the alarm clock could. As I lay under my covers, I was dreading going outside and facing the brutal weather, with temperatures expected to be in the teens that day. I usually spend my early...Read full story »
Monday, February 10, 2014
Ice storm memories bring laughter . . . now!
Do you remember the ice storm of 2009? I do. It swept into my life with little fanfare in the early morning hours that January. My husband, Steve, and I were asleep in our second-story bedroom when we were awakened by the sound of heavy sleet. As we lay there and listened, the sleet intensif...Read full story »
Monday, January 27, 2014
A night that turned from excitement to sadness
Back in the spring of 1968, I was a senior in high school, ready to spread my wings a little. And that spring, there was a comet that streaked across the sky named Bobby Kennedy. I was living at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Indianapolis, a boarding school run by the venerable Benedictine sisters,...Read full story »
Monday, January 13, 2014
The Holy Family: walking in faith
This is the weekend we honor the Holy Family, the family that we pray to, that we aspire to emulate. We all know the Bible stories about them. Mary and Joseph are betrothed. Mary has a visit from Archangel Gabriel. Joseph has doubts, and Mary heads to see her also-pregnant cousin Eliza...Read full story »
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Questions about Advent, answers from our pope
So here we are, right in the middle of Advent. So here we are, right in the middle of holiday preparations. How do we reconcile the two? It's clearly a study of contrasts. One takes quiet, solitude and separation, while the other demands hustle and bustle and busyness. Even the colors are di...Read full story »
Monday, December 09, 2013
Building our lives with gold, silver and costly stones
Earlier this fall I spent a bit of time at a nursing home, just sitting and watching and waiting. Each day I came to admire the elderly residents more and more. They had such a lovely spirit about them, and an eagerness to just carry on. Our elderly of today are the members of what we call t...Read full story »
Monday, November 25, 2013
Falling in love with the Mass
The celebration of the Mass began quietly. It was a chilly fall afternoon; and before Mass, parishioners were gathered in the narthex talking about the colder weather and the possibility of a harsh winter this year. A few minutes into the Mass, an elderly parishioner slipped into his seat, r...Read full story »
Monday, November 18, 2013
Saying the last good-bye
My mother's mental illness kept us apart in a way that no mother and daughter should be apart. She had good days, and many bad days. During my childhood, there were many dark and terrifying days. Over the years, our relationship suffered. Actually, it almost perished. When she was hospitaliz...Read full story »
Monday, October 28, 2013
