A power packed weekend
Rebecca and I hit the road this weekend. It was prompted by news I learned earlier this week. A good friend of mine, Fr. Tim whom I met thirteen years ago while driving tour bus in Dawson City, Yukon Territory lost his father this week. I had only met his dad once(when they stopped by for a visit at Xavier) but I felt called to go to the funeral. Fr. Tim grew up in the East part of WI so we took the 2.5 hour drive over. It was a beautiful service. His dad landed on Omaha Beach in WWII and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. It amazes me to think about what these men went through seventy years ago. I never knew either of my grandfathers, they both had died before I ever came on scene. Ironically, yesterday was the anniversary of Rebecca's grandfather's death as well. He too was a Battle of the Bulge veteran. I wonder if those two are up there swapping stories right now. I am so glad I was able to meet, and spend a bit of time with Rebecca's grandfather in the early years of our marriage.
There is no doubt that that period of time is so drastically different than what we know today. I am so thankful for the wisdom and simple, but oh so valuable, common sense that was passed down from that generation. When we lose those guys we are losing a true gift. Although they are gone, I can only hope we can hang on to and continue to pass on those gifts they left behind.
From there we were able to meet up with a college friend of Rebecca's. Wendy and Joe and their three kids have a similar story to ours in many ways. Joe had Hodgkin's three years ago, while Wendy was pregnant with their second child. It was great to share stories and hear of another's journey. It was indeed a great day of memories, reflection and hope.
Then Sunday morning rolls around and we head off to mass which was made fairly easy with the handy brochure found in the hotel lobby outlining all the area mass times and locations! Due to a few directional errors we arrived in time for the end of the second reading. Needless to say, the only seats available were located in the crying room. Now, you should know that even with three little ones, little time is spent in the crying room with this gang. Mainly because, our parish does not have a crying room. Seriously though, even though the kids are getting pretty squirmy at this age, as long as we have a third set of hands the hour usually goes pretty smoothly. Notice the caveat there, we NEED a third person to make things go well.
The crying room is very tiny with two beautiful stained glass windows to the outside world but lacking any view of the church beyond. Our only tie to what is taking place was the wall mounted flat screen. In front of the two short rows of pews sat a plethora of toys, books, and all things distracting for the wee ones. Rebecca and I both held a baby and I did my best to make sure Andrew was attentive until we got to the homily. I started losing him early in the homily and then when the head of the finance committee got up to speak for the next 15 minutes with a powerpoint presentation on the current state of the parish debt, that's when Rebecca and I looked at each other and decided...Kids can only look at a piece of candy for so long with mom and dad telling them "no" before they will dig in any way. It wasn't fair, much less feasible to keep them from the toys any longer.
Needless to say, mass was over and we felt as though we had just come from play time at the preschool. It provided for a good chuckle and a feeling of thanksgiving for being back at home where things are familiar and far less distracting.
There is no doubt that that period of time is so drastically different than what we know today. I am so thankful for the wisdom and simple, but oh so valuable, common sense that was passed down from that generation. When we lose those guys we are losing a true gift. Although they are gone, I can only hope we can hang on to and continue to pass on those gifts they left behind.
From there we were able to meet up with a college friend of Rebecca's. Wendy and Joe and their three kids have a similar story to ours in many ways. Joe had Hodgkin's three years ago, while Wendy was pregnant with their second child. It was great to share stories and hear of another's journey. It was indeed a great day of memories, reflection and hope.
Then Sunday morning rolls around and we head off to mass which was made fairly easy with the handy brochure found in the hotel lobby outlining all the area mass times and locations! Due to a few directional errors we arrived in time for the end of the second reading. Needless to say, the only seats available were located in the crying room. Now, you should know that even with three little ones, little time is spent in the crying room with this gang. Mainly because, our parish does not have a crying room. Seriously though, even though the kids are getting pretty squirmy at this age, as long as we have a third set of hands the hour usually goes pretty smoothly. Notice the caveat there, we NEED a third person to make things go well.
The crying room is very tiny with two beautiful stained glass windows to the outside world but lacking any view of the church beyond. Our only tie to what is taking place was the wall mounted flat screen. In front of the two short rows of pews sat a plethora of toys, books, and all things distracting for the wee ones. Rebecca and I both held a baby and I did my best to make sure Andrew was attentive until we got to the homily. I started losing him early in the homily and then when the head of the finance committee got up to speak for the next 15 minutes with a powerpoint presentation on the current state of the parish debt, that's when Rebecca and I looked at each other and decided...Kids can only look at a piece of candy for so long with mom and dad telling them "no" before they will dig in any way. It wasn't fair, much less feasible to keep them from the toys any longer.
Needless to say, mass was over and we felt as though we had just come from play time at the preschool. It provided for a good chuckle and a feeling of thanksgiving for being back at home where things are familiar and far less distracting.
Comments
Glad you were aa able go on a little outting!