“Where I’m From” — A Poem, A Process, A Conversation
My writer friend Alyson Shelton invited her Instagram followers to share poems created from the prompt, "Where I'm From," based on George Ella Lyon's poem with that title. I read mine live on Instagram as part of her weekly series, and I'm sharing the text below. You can also watch a recording here. [...]
A Mentor’s Legacy
A dear mentor and friend died unexpectedly last week, and I was very sorry to be unable to attend her funeral yesterday. For 22 years that included my young adult and parenting stages, Rosemary Conrad was the director of religious education at Bellarmine Parish. Our relationship began with a simple [...]
Remarkable Woman Rediscovered
Just in time for remembrance of the dead throughout November, I was introduced to the fascinating life of Regina Jonas, the first female rabbi (pronounced ReGEEna YOnas). She was honored as part of a program on women rabbis I attended last week at our nearby Jewish Community Center. Although ordained [...]
To Leave the Outgrown Shell
Last week we laid to rest my husband's maternal aunt, his mother's only sibling, Mary Lois Jung. She was a most wonderful and unusual individual who meant a great deal to me. In his remarks at the funeral, Joe observed that because she spent 30+ years in places like Pakistan [...]
Heirloom
Arriving in St. Paul last week, I drove directly to the James J. Hill House, a 42-room mansion built in 1891 on a bluff overlooking downtown, to visit an heirloom. I love historic sites and was quite entranced with this one when my son Michael and I toured it during [...]
Yahrzeit — An Anniversary of Death
Yesterday was the third anniversary of my mother-in-law, Ruth's, death, and I had previously decided to mark it as a personal feast day. "Yahrzeit" is the Jewish term for this occasion, typically observed according to the Hebrew calendar. Their practices include lighting a candle at home, attending synagogue services, visiting [...]
Call Me Al
My heart is filled with joy and gratitude at the conclusion of my father's funeral rites today. The visitation last evening brought many fond reminiscences, and it was so gratifying to hear how others valued my dad through the years. This morning's funeral liturgy was just beautiful in every way, [...]
Father’s Day 2013
This piece became even more meaningful after my dad's death two days after the events described here. The usual tremor of anxiety accompanies arrival at the nursing home. Parking the car, signing in, marks a crossing into the unknown. Will you be sleeping? Wandering about? Staring at the television? Once [...]
Making Memories
This week we moved my father from an assisted living to a skilled nursing facility, and the process was not unlike sending a kid to camp or off to college -- making sure he brings the proper supplies and clothing and that each is labeled with his name, acquiring decorative [...]
A Day Both Happy and Sad
Bittersweet is surely the word when one’s child graduates from high school. It is truly happy and sad at the same time. Our daughter, Kieran, graduated from St. Ursula Academy yesterday, and in what proved an odd juxtaposition of events, en route to the ceremony she and I stopped by [...]
Flowers for Natalie
Last November 20, my daughter Kieran called me right after I dropped her off at school to tell me that Natalie, an ’09 grad of St. Ursula, had died at 6:30 a.m. Since learning the previous evening of Natalie’s severe leukemia relapse and the inability to treat it, Kieran and [...]
All the Saints
The custom of remembering the dead during November as the leaves turn and the light fades, continues to resonate from my Catholic background. To observe this time of year, my husband and I like to recollect our personal saints through a pilgrimage to local cemeteries where our relatives are buried, [...]