May Coleman Geary & Margaret Coleman O'Donnell

 

I have no idea when this photo was taken but I am guessing this was when May & Margaret were still Coleman's.  It is in rather bad shape but the faces are clear.  I wasn't sure this was May since I always remember my great Aunt May as a rather thin woman and she is a bit robust in this photo.   But my mother wrote on the back of the photo" Mother & Aunt May".  For those who may not know the history, Margaret was the oldest daughter and then came May.  Their parent's photo was sent out awhile ago - Hannah Byrne and Frank  Coleman.  

Geary's Valley Rest, Route 106, Lawton, Pa

I'm not sure if I ever sent this photo out on my Blog before but will do it again anyway since the Geary Family is so receptive!!
My Mom and Dad loved this place and told many stories of arriving from the heat, hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, NY to the fresh air and open spaces of my Mother's Aunt May Geary's little get-away.  It seemed from my parent's tales that this spot was a little bit of heaven for them.
By the way, I'm suppose to be cleaning out my computer room and instead I am drawn right into this photo and other photos, letters, postcards, etc.  Why am I like this, I wonder?

Messed up My Blog

I can no longer click at the top of a blog entry and attach an alert & link to my Boomerfrontrunner Blog on my Facebook page.   I have no idea why or how this change occurred.  Does anyone have a clue what I did or why this happened or more importantly, how I can correct it?  Actually, in a nutshell, this is an indication of my computer skills or rather my lack of computer skills.  I love to write and use my blog as a motivator but do not know enough regarding all the other stuff.   It can be such a frustration and time waster, especially for someone fast approaching 70, who understands quite clearly that their isn't much sand left in the hour glass.   

Sweetness Personified at Mike & Shelby's Wedding

These two little girls brought such joy as they walked down the isle at Mike & Shelby's Wedding.  It never ceases to amaze me at the wonder and joy that radiates from children.   No matter what else is going on in a person's life, children make us happier and put a smile on our faces. 

My Father Sat in Back of Me in Church Today

Was this just a coincidence?!
So, today is my father's 99th birthday.  It is also "All Souls Day".  We rarely ever go to the 9AM Sunday liturgy.  Almost always we attend the 4PM Mass on Saturday afternoon.  But we were lucky enough to be invited to dinner at our friends' - Joanne & John's - home in Greenville yesterday and we waited until today to go to Mass.
Now, ever since my father died on September 11, 2013, I noticed an elderly man at the 4PM Mass who had a striking, uncanny resemblance to my Dad.  I honestly never saw him in church prior to my Dad's death.  It has been a great comfort for me to look over my shoulder and get a glimpse of "my father"when I am at Mass.    I look for him every time we are at the 4 o'clock Mass.
Today when we walked into the hall (our church proper is undergoing renovations), the seats were just about full. Bob and I went to sit in chairs along the wall, when one of the ladies of our parish, said, "grab a chair and pull it up alongside of me".  So we did, and I sat down.  I was feeling a bit lonesome, thinking about my Dad on his birthday and remembering how many Masses we attended together.  I started to slip my arms out of my coat when I felt the person behind me reach up to help me.  I turned around to acknowledge the help and low and behold it was my "Dad".   He is always at the 4PM and he never sits directly behind us.  This morning he was at the 9AM Mass and is seated right behind us and he reaches up to help me.  I honestly cannot help but believe my Dad had something to do with this coincidence.  Even my practical, down-to-earth husband was astonished.
So, yes, I got your "hello" Dad and thanks for the wink.  I love you too and hope your birthday is going well wherever your Spirit resides.

I never ever saw this man again after this encounter!

Connor's Question

I didn't realize that a 9 year old boy could be such a "deep thinker".  This morning we are driving Connor home after he slept over with us (his Mema and Papa) when he asks, "what is the purpose of life, if we're all going to die anyway?"
Wow! I certainly was surprised to hear such a question coming from a child.  I felt so sad.  Does a person have to deal with the reality of death at such a young age?  Won't there be plenty of time for this in years to come?  I felt a bit overwhelmed as I scrambled to find a satisfactory answer. 
I told him that death is a birth into another life and it isn't the end of us.  I told him that when a baby is in the Mommie's womb, it probably doesn't want to to leave because it is so at home there, but then when it is born, it is happy that it entered this new life.  I said that when people have to die, they don't want to leave this world because they are so at home here, but then when they do die and leave this life, they enter the next life and they are very happy that they entered this new life with God.
I wonder if this was a good thing to say.  I don't want him to be too eager to go to the next life. 
And, as you probably know from my previous blog entries, I really just hope and pray for the realities I shared with him today since they are none too clear and concise in my own mind.   Even my faith-filled father had uncertainty.  I was trying to offer some comfort to him as he lay dying by saying, "Daddy, you'll be seeing Mommie and Charlie and little Joseph and your Mom and Dad and he answered me a bit too clearly, "I sure hope so".  
 Still I want Connor to have hope.  I also wonder what he is being taught about life, death and infinity at St. Pius X School?  
Tonight I'm trying to fall asleep and I start thinking of the Baltimore Catechism answer:
"God made us to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him in the next".  I'll also have to tell Connor that the purpose of life is to Love God with his whole heart, his whole soul and His whole strength and to love his neighbors as himself.   I think this is the very best answer.  I sense this at my core when I experience love.  I don't doubt that, I just don't have a clear, concise mental picture of what the next life will be.   I also think the word Him is not the best description of a Being who is beyond description. 
The photo was taken this morning shortly before we drove Connor home.  He is standing with Nancy Krueger, a woman we know from Ridgewood, Queens.  She was visiting for the weekend. We have known Nancy since 1973 when Bob & I taught her in a "religious ed class" at St. Matthias Church.

How can I take this Synod Seriously?

 I can barely stand to read anything about the Synod going on in Rome.  It makes me so upset to hear what some of these "celibate" man are preaching.  Don't they understand that God is love?
  
Thank God this Cardinal said something I can agree with:

Cardinal Walter Kasper said  “A Church without women is like a mutilated body,”  He also said that  “Without them, parishes would close tomorrow.”   Kasper remarked that it was “absurd” that women did not hold “high-level” positions in the Roman Curia.  He added that women should also be included, as consultants, in major discussions at the congregations dealing with education, saint-making, doctrine and consecrated life “since 80 percent of Religious are women.” (The Tablet, 03/08/14)

On the other hand, Cardinal Raymond Burke states: 
“If homosexual relations are intrinsically disordered, which indeed they are — reason teaches us that and also our faith — then, what would it mean to grandchildren to have present at a family gathering a family member who is living [in] a disordered relationship with another person?” asked the cardinal.

How can he say that an all-loving God creates people who are "intrinsically disordered'?    Why would an intelligent human being, in this day and age, make a remark like this???    It is so absolutely frustrating to hear someone who is in a decision making position in my church say such a ludicrous thing? 

I am so discouraged by this group of men in Rome!