Category: Personal

After a long plane ride back from the middle east, Eric is at a Marine base in the USA! I wonder if he can use those airline miles on United…
He should be home to Paige and his 3 kids in the next day or so. Keep them all in your prayers please.

From a friar pal of mine at the Franciscan Monastery in DC:

I ask that you say an extra prayer for my older brother whose boss’s daughter committed suicide yesterday morning. My brother and his boss grew up together and graudated from high school together and have been close friends all these years. His boss’s daughter has been very sick for many years and has attempted suicide on many occasions. This time she succeeded. Her grandparents also committed suicide so there may be something genetic in all this. At any rate, say a prayer or two for him.

Please say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for this poor woman who commited suicide. Also for her family and friends – that they recieve the grace they need in the pain of this loss. Thank you very much.

I’m off to a summer-school reunion day in New Hampshire. I’m pleased to see that the winter school at St. Paul’s has finally added a Catholic chaplaincy and a Sunday Mass at their beloved chapel. But I won’t be staying for the whole day’s program in Concord; there are country bookstores to be shopped, all the way to Sunapee.
In another summer excursion, I’ve signed up to attend the Thomistic theology conference next month at Ave Maria College. It’ll probably be over my head technically, but at least it’ll help as an orientation to the subject. Fr. Bryce expressed some interest in the conference too, and Victor’s not far from there: will it be safe to bring all of our eccentricity together in one place?

Beard.
I shaved my beard this morning while my wife watched in dismayed curiosity: “What will my husband look like without a beard? I’ve never seen him without a beard.”
And the answer is: younger, rounder, whiter. I will need to get some sun on my face this weekend.
My wife says she’s looking forward to spending time with her new man tonight… I guess that’s good.

Update on Smeary – she died around noon at the vet. My wife had just gotten there and the vet said she wasn’t going to get any better. Teresa started petting her and she meowed a couple of times and then died.
First time I’ve had a pet die since I never had pets until we get married. I’m more upset than I thought I would be.
Here’s a picture, she’s curled up against my laptop – the same laptop I use at home to post to CatholicLight.

And here’s a picture we sent with last year’s Christmas cards: our dog Eva and Smeary under the Christmas tree. Smeary is rolling around on the carpet – something she did that was always really cute.