Happy Birthday to my son

Nineteen years ago today, I was in the throes of a labor marathon that culminated in the birth of our son. He was 18 days late and took 24 hours to be born and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

We have been blessed with a son who is smart, thoughtful, kind, compassionate and spiritual. He has ambitons to become a corporate attorney and I am certain he will reach that goal.

Happy birthday son. We love you so much.

The party's almost over

It finally hit me yesterday that my son will be going back to school this weekend. I don't know why it took so long, but it did and on Sunday he will head back for his sophomore year.

And with this comes the realization that summer is almost over. Where did it go?

It has been a good summer. Having our son home was great despite the increase in laundry and the fact that I didn't see the floor of his bedroom all summer. I enjoyed his company watching silly movies and pointless TV shows. And he and I share the same twisted sense of humor so we had fun joking around. But the party's over and it's time for him to pack up his things, load up his car and head north to school.

Am I sad? A bit. But I am so happy that he is looking forward to returning to the classroom and hit the books. And he can't wait to get back to rowing too. And this eases my sadness.

So here's to a great year at school. I'll miss you, but remember that I love you.

The Last Straw

If you have been reading this blog, you know that I have been struggling with the changes in my parish because of the recent merger. The promised merger of two equal parishes had been a one sided affair with the other parish taking over just about every part of the parish. And yesterday, I think I witnessed the last straw that may just make me leave my parish.

The two parishes were supposed to join together and form a Society of St. Vincent DePaul(SSVDP) - an organization that serves the less fortunate in our community providing food, financial assistance and other social services. This project was to be finalized when an unused building in my parish was renovated to accommodate the food portion with the addition of freezers and refrigerators and the renovation of the rest rooms to accommodate the handicapped. Unfortunately, it was not completed before the two former pastors were transferred.

When the new pastor arrived, the person in the other parish who ran the food pantry saw an opportunity to keep the pantry from becoming part of the SSVDP group and the pastor allowed this to happen. So the SSVDP was limited to one of the three rooms in the building and does not have access to the food to provide emergency food assistance to anyone who might need it.

This weekend, while exiting mass, we drove past this building and found a satellite dish mounted to the roof of the building. Please explain why they need satellite TV and just who is paying for this. I feel certain that the parish is and even if the food pantry is, why are they spending money this way when it could be used to help feed people?

I think this is the last straw - I have been trying to find a reason to stay, but I think it is time to go.

Sunday - funday

We spent Sunday with our good friend Sister C. She was the roommate of our friend Sister R who passed away last October.

Sister C now resides at what we affectionately call "the mother ship," our spin on what is called the mother house. After Sister R passed away, Sister C was lost and a bit depressed. They had shared convents for about 25 years and had a special connection of sharing the same birthday. Shortly after moving to "the ship" she was diagnosed with the beginning of Alzheimer's Disease. She is in the early stages - she's a bit forgetful and will often ask the same question many times or recount a story many times, but she is still sharp and is bored to tears where she lives.

Our friends the "V Family" have a son who is very much into acting. He had role in a local production of "The Sound of Music" and we thought it would be a good occasion to pick up Sister C for the day and surprise the young thespian. He was thrilled and as an added bonus for her, a former teacher from our now closed parish school was there too, along with a few of the students from there.

We began our day with mass, which was a bit of a disappointment for her since there weren't many people from our former parish there - she was hoping to see a few familiar faces. She wasn't alone in that thought - I didn't recognize more than 8 or 10 either. After mass we headed out for breakfast, then back to our house to drop off our son and head to the show.

After the show, which by the way was really great, we suggested getting a bite to eat since it was dinner time. Her choice - ice cream from her favorite ice cream parlor. Yes, we had ice cream for dinner and she couldn't have been happier.

Later, Dad V and I took her back to "the ship" and said good bye. We miss having her close by, but at least she isn't too far away.