I’m in Living Faith today. You can read the devotional here.
The reference is to my 2008 trip to Rome, solo, to visit Son #2 who was at the time teaching English there.
The posts about that trip are here. The photo links have changed, and I’m too lazy to go through and edit. Sorry. But here are a few.
I think this is one of my favorites, of all the photos I’ve ever taken.
While I was gone, Mike took the little boys to visit his family in Florida. Everyone had a great time. Memorable times. A few weeks later, he died of a heart attack.
Eventually, Thanksgiving rolled around again, and of course it was hard to face. What I didn’t want to face, most of all, were holiday gatherings with all eyes on a metaphorical empty chair. Just couldn’t do it. So, of course, we went to Legoland instead.
No apologies, no regrets. He would have done something just like it, except it would have involved football games. You do what you have to do to stay whole and live, not in the past, but to stay present in the present moment, and every step of the way, you give thanks.
What a complicated thing gratitude is. We’re grateful for where we are and grateful for where we have been, even if none of it is perfect. In communion with those around the earth and in heaven, we offer thanks—eucharistia—most of all, for what our tears of yearning gratitude are about—the loving God who put us here, wherever we are, and will, eventually, bring us home to him, giving thanks forevermore.
Charlotte was Both 