Reading the Epoch Times is always an adventure. I come across many excellent articles and often clip them to send to family members. This morning the article that caught my eye was advice to parents of children not to let their family responsibilities prevent working on their couple relationship. I sent it to a granddaughter who is expecting her second little one. They are in the busy-busy days of married life.
She and her husband are blessed to live near both of their families and there are abundant baby sitters who would love cuddling the little ones. I never had that. Both sets of parents were too far away to be very helpful. We were pretty much on our own and since I was raised in a frequently moving Navy family I had no local support group. We gradually developed one through Christian Family Movement and church, but that's not the same as family.
I've felt a little off balance since my sister's death. I feel like I need a readjustment. Jeanne was a big part of my life for the past six years since she went into the assisted living and then the nursing home. Cleaning out her apartment was like one of the labors of Hercules or a scene from Great Expectations. I had to wear a mask to deal with the dust. It's hard as you get older to keep up with everything. I get it. I was on spider patrol in the basement yesterday. And the battle with the dust bunnies is ongoing.
Jeanne collected notepaper and cards and we had a big bin to set out at the wake and funeral to share. We invited people to take some in memory of Jeanne with a suggestion to write a letter to someone in imitation of her little apostolate.
I came from a family of eleven children, one of whom died right before birth. The rest of us grew to adulthood: six girls and four boys. Daddy was in the Navy so we moved every three or four years, changing houses and schools, making new friends. After we grew up and began our own families, we shared many holidays together: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, 4th of July. I can still smell the eye roast Daddy made on the rotisserie grill, a staple of many holiday meals.
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| Rest in Peace, Jeanne |
My sister died yesterday morning. She was declining for a long time, but there was no indication that death was imminent. When the phone rang at 6:30 a.m. I thought it might be one of the multiple fishing calls I get with an agent wanting to talk about my back pain, diabetes, knee problems, ulcers, take your pick.
"Wow! Somebody decided to call really early," I thought." Odd to go there because when the phone rings at unexpected times, I usually immediately think of my sister. That shows how unexpected her death was.
Today is the anniversary of my Dad's death. He died in 1985 at the age of 67 -- too young, too soon to say goodbye. I still miss him. I still ask him to forgive me for not being a better daughter. I was with him when he died. In fact, at least four of his ten children were in the house at the time and several grandchildren. My sister Peggy and I were with Daddy when he died. He was sitting in a chair leaning against the bed and we were stroking his back and talking quietly when we realized he wasn't breathing. The blood had already begun to pool at the pressure point on his forehead.
Every Sunday is a little Christmas and a little Easter. How will we keep it holy?
Do you remember the description of Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol? He was a man who "knew how to keep Christmas," something he learned from the three ghosts. Perhaps we need three ghosts today to help us "keep" Sunday: the Ghost of Sunday Past, the Ghost of Sunday Present, and the Ghost of Sunday Future. If those ghosts visited us today what would those visits look like?
What a busy week! We left Monday morning to visit family in Wheeling. What a whirlwind! We stayed with my husband's brother and his wife and visited there Monday evening. (My sister-in-law and I got creamed at euchre by our gloating husbands.) We saw the lovely Christmas decorations at Ogleby Park's lodge on Tuesday midday. The ballroom was set up like a wedding reception for an employee luncheon, a practice they repeat every month!
Yesterday was my dad's birthday. He was born in 1917, the first of five children born to Raymond Michael Schneider and Marie Zurlinden Schneider in Cleveland, Ohio. His dad, my grandfather, was an organist who played in vaudeville for the silent movies and later was organist at St. James Catholic Church in Lakewood where his men and boys' choirs became well known. He taught his own children to play and Daddy played the organ later for the Catholic community at the Naval Academy when he was student there and for St. Augustine's in Elkridge, MD after he retired.
In 2009 my brother, Ray Jr. (now deceased), posted this on his blog:
Raymond John Schneider — Dad
Ray's first ship was USS DETROIT, which was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. DETROIT subsequently transported the Philippine Government's gold and silver monetary reserve, which had been removed from Corregidor by submarine, from Honolulu to San Francisco.
Our granddaughter married a wonderful man last Saturday. What a joyous bell-ringing celebration a wedding is! It gathered friends and family from far and wide. I saw two of my nieces for the first time in several years and had a chance to catch up since we sat at the same table.
Before we left for the wedding, I was sick, which caused us to delay our departure for a day. Happily I recovered enough to go after dosing up with Vitamins C and D and drinking a disgusting immunity tea recommended by a friend.
Our grandson is getting married on Saturday to a lovely young woman whom my husband and I love already. They spent the summer doing mission work in Colorado where they will return after a brief honeymoon. Both of them were active in the campus ministry at JMU in Harrisonburg, VA and they obviously are starting off their marriage with God at the center. What a joy for grandparents' hearts. Our youngest is also celebrating her birthday on Friday and my husband's brother, Dale. My brother Bobby's birthday is on Saturday so we have many prayers of gratitude going up to the Lord this weekend for so many blessings.
Please join us in praying for Alex and Katie, Jamie, Dale, and Bobby.
We will have houseguests coming for the wedding so I won't be blogging the next few days. I hope you have as much for which to be joyful as we do this weekend. Let us rejoice with Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate.
May Jesus Christ be praised.
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| Larry's dad took a terrible two-story fall from a scaffold while painting the house. He spent months in the hospital, but Larry's Mom made sure he kept up with new babies! |
We’ve been visiting family in Wheeling the past few days to celebrate a bridal shower for one of our granddaughters, a lovely event. So many aunts, cousins, and friends reunited for a delightful afternoon. At our stage in life, reunions occur mainly at weddings and funerals.
Our entire weekend was focused on family including departed family members who have gone before us. While we were visiting at my brother-in-law's house, he brought out a large box filled with photos and memorabilia. How many memories of my husband’s family filled that box.
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| Beach buddy! |
It's been a busy few weeks. I spent five days in April with my blogging partner, Susan, who lives in Florida. We met in North Carolina at her daughter's cabin in the woods, a great spot to appreciate the glory of God in His creation and revel in our friendship. We always laugh a lot when we're together. How can one not laugh at the insanity of the world?As one Catholic blogger says, "We laugh because we believe." The long drive back to northern Virginia was grueling for this old lady, but the weather was beautiful, the woods and fields fresh and green. While the redbud and daffodils were finished, the dogwood put on a full bloom show all the way home.
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| Shenandoah River State Park - View from the Overlook Trail |
We took a quick camping trip on Monday with two of our youngest grandchildren who are five and eight. A lovely park close to home, Shenandoah River State Park, outside Front Royal, VA was the destination. One of the great blessing there? -- no cell or internet service! (Read more at my Grandma blog....)
I really do have a life besides this blog and I share some of it on my Grandma blog, The View from Camp Kreitzer.
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| celebrating with six of my granddaughters and my daughter, the photographer |
Today is my birthday. My parents named me Mary after Our Lady's feast day yesterday for which I'm deeply thankful. And now, here I am, celebrating my birthday for the 76th time as I journey on toward the final goal. What comes to mind as I reflect on the past, the present, and the future?
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| Our holiday tablecloth will grace the main table at the Thanksgiving feast reminding us of several dear ones who are gone now and reminding us of how the big grandchildren used to be little! So many memories on this tablecloth. I will read them all once again. |
When Larry retired, we bought a big house in the country and moved from Alexandria (swampland) to the farmland of Shenandoah County. The kids named our new home Camp Kreitzer. Once someone stopped and asked if we really ran a camp. I laughed! Yes, a big family one.
