Peanut Butter Send Off

On July 6, 2019 early in the morning, God called my dad home.

Blessed relief from his years of suffering from Alzheimer's.

My mom was with him and so were my two brothers.

There were many of us gathered in his last week so he was never alone.  One morning he woke up and had breakfast, and by lunchtime he was no longer able to swallow.  We knew those would be our last days with him.

My brother, Dave and his family came from California and stayed at the house with mom and dad and the rest of us just came and went as we were able; talking, laughing, eating, and praying in turn.

Many Chaplets and Rosaries were prayed, and our Pastor Fr. Jim came and anointed dad one last time.

It was a long eight day wait.  It was a mostly peaceful,  though sometimes stressful time, but being together made it a joy.

The funeral home portion was mostly preplanned a couple of years ago, but there were last minute details to work out and so I got to help with that.

God is in the details!  One week before dad died, it was the annual switching of the priests at many of the parishes in the Archdiocese.  Our new pastor turned out to be an old friend, and so the fact that he was going to offer the Mass of Resurrection for my dad was pretty special.

We picked out readings and music and told Fr. Bob stories he could use in his homily.

Flowers were ordered.  The grandkids stepped up and did a beautiful job choosing a way honor their grandpa:

They also took part in the funeral Mass. My mom wanted them each to walk in carrying a rose that would be placed in a vase in front of the altar.  As these photos show, they were beautiful  bouquets just among themselves. One niece did a reading, and one read the petitions.  My dear one did a reading as well. 

We even got a new family photo of the sibs with my mom. 

After the burial, we gathered for a lovely luncheon.  While Park Place did a wonderful job with the catered meal, my favorite part was what my brother Dave did for us.  Anyone who knew my dad even a little, knew that his favorite foods were peanut butter and popcorn. 

At one point, while having a good p.b. and j. with David, my dad said, "Sometimes I feel like God made peanut butter just for me." 

So we toasted his life with some really good peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yum. 

There was popcorn too, which was great. 

If you study the photos you will see lots of smiles.  When you let God take control of your life, He blesses you in so many ways.  Dad and Mom both gave their lives over to God and showed us how to live faithfully in whatever God asks of us.  So, in the living, and in the dying, there is JOY. 

We helped pass on that lesson to the youngest grandchild Adele, who turned 10 the day her grandpa died.  We had a grand celebration with pizza, a pool, pie-in-the-face (by request),

 lots of laughter and story telling.  

My dad was a good man and will be missed, but we go forward in joy knowing that he is pain free, whole and is watching over us and praying for us so that we may meet again. 

Love you,  Dad.

One for the memory book.  That's my sister Connie singing. 

40 Days for Life

A 40 Days for Life campaign is probably being held somewhere near you.  They are taking place all over the world.

Here are the statistics from the official website:

Since 2007:

There have been: 5,605 campaigns in 50 nations, 769 cities and over 750,000 volunteers.

All this is good news for LIFE.

So far:

14,643 babies have been saved from abortion,

177 Planned Parenthood employees have quit, and

96 abortion centers have closed.


This is a photo of the removal of the sign for the Planned Parenthood office in Bryan/College Station Texas.  The building now houses the offices for 40 Days for Life.


My dear one and I went to pray at an abortion facility in a neighboring city today (the one in our city closed it doors several years ago-Praise God).

While driving to the clinic I had a hard time finding it.  I knew the building because I have prayed there before.  I could not find it.

Unfortunately, it was not because it was closed.  It was because they have hidden it from the road with:

many, many Arborvitae.  They have surrounded the parking lot with these trees so the the volunteers on the sidewalks near the center cannot be seen by the clients.  We are only allowed to walk on the sidewalks. We cannot go near the building or on the parking lot. 

That did not stop Wayne and me from praying our Rosary.  We were a little farther away, but God doesn't need proximity to use  our prayers.  I will go back again and we will keep praying until this site goes out of business as well.  

As I said, there is probably a campaign going on near you. 

Please go to the website:  HERE.   Find a campaign.  Pray!  Sign up for email updates and help save the babies! 

On Suffering

I belong to a web based group for women called Blessed Is She (BIS for short).  (Catholic and Christian women reading this post: if you're interested in joining go HERE to check it out.)

So, I belong to this group and on the FaceBook page the women post prayer requests.  There are so many people out there struggling with so many facets of life.

Suffering...

It's all around us.  Sick kids, parents in hospice, no job, not a good enough job, mean people that we have to deal with, broken cars, etc., etc., etc.

While I've had my share of suffering, I have to admit that right now, life is pretty good.

Our vehicles run (I have mine back from the body shop where they replaced the front end and radiator after a run-in with a parking lot curb- not mentioning any names.) The kids and I are healthy for the most part, two have lingering coughs from colds last week.

I work with really nice people since I'm a stay-at-home mom and help take care of my dad and babysit the grandchildren every once in a while.  It's all family and we all love each other.

On my tired days, I sometimes find myself murmuring about one aspect or other of my life that could be different.  I honestly have nothing to complain about.

The Your Morning Offering page that comes to my email daily included these two gems today:

"All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever has done these two things best, has made himself most saintly."

— Saint Francis de Sales

"By accepting the sufferings ‘offered’ by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness."

— Fr. Jacques Philippe, p. 49 (from his book Interior Freedom) 

I spend quite a bit of time in prayer.  I find that all this prayer time makes what would be hard suffering for some, not quite as hard for me.  I can give it all to God and He takes it and turns it into something beautiful.

My morning routine is 5:15 wake up, breakfast with morning prayer, go to Mass, take the kids to school, go to stay with my dad so my mom can go to Mass, and then the rest of the day is mine to figure out what to do with. Usual mom stuff for the most part. 

Well in my weakness, while I was driving home from the school this morning, I just wished that I could go straight home and start on stuff that needed to be done here.  I thought about it a bit and showed up as usual to stay with my dad. 

I had a crossword puzzle with me and my phone so I could Scrabble with friends meaning there was no lack of entertainment. There was hot chocolate available and all the food in the house was at hand.  Then it hit me, this is a tiny suffering for me.  Then this move clip popped into my head:

IMGFLIP. (Oliver and Company)

I pray that when the suffering gets harder, I will handle it with grace. 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  (Phil 4:13)

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Sainthood is for Everyone

In the words of Mother Angelica,

"We are all called to be great saints, don't miss the opportunity."

I read a lot.  I listen to a lot of Catholic speakers.  I watch videos of Catholic teachers.  Lately, the most frequent message I'm hearing is that we are called to sainthood.

No matter who we are.  No matter what our pasts look like.  No matter what our present looks like.

Every new day can be a day closer to the goal.

What does sainthood look like?

Obedience (abandonment) to the will of God.  Another "Mother Angelic lesson" is that if we are struggling, we are probably straining against God's will.  Yes, sometimes life is just hard.  But if we are fighting God's will and trying to do our own thing, it's a different kind of struggle.

We are called to trust God as small children trust that the adults in their lives will take care of them.  They trust that they will be fed, clothed, cared for and loved.

We have to become like little children and believe that God knows what's best for us.  He likes to take us out of our comfort zones and shake us up a bit.  He likes to stretch us until we know without a doubt that He is the one in charge.  All things belong to Him, including us!

Would you like to know the fast track to sainthood?  Don't try to do it alone.  Latch on tight to Mamma Mary and she will lead you right to her Son.

In your struggles, she prays for you.  In your joy, she rejoices with you.  In your need, she is there for you because she has the ear of her Son and He loves to listen to His mother.

There is a BOOK I will recommend that changed my life and changes the lives of those who read it and live it.

It is called 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr, Michael Gaitley.

In this amazing book, Fr. Gailey leads you down the path to Marian Consecration by introducing you to Saints who have trusted that Mary would lead them to Jesus.

Mary is already our mother by virtue of the fact that Jesus gave her to us from the cross, "Behold, your mother." John 19:27.  We can request her intercession and she will pray for us.  By giving ourselves over to her love completely through consecration,  we give her permission to bless us with the graces God gives her to distribute to those who ask for them.  (And so many people don't ask!!).  So ask, and watch what happens.  You will be amazed.

Sainthood is for all of us.  Don't miss the opportunity.


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