Life

Priest in the Trees

My parents get a couple of magazines on a regular basis. I usually don’t take time to sit down and read anything, but my mom reads things to me that I would find interesting. It’s good voice exercise for her. A couple weeks ago, my dad kept out an article that he thought I would enjoy. […]

Merry Christmas Wish

I went to the post office today to get my Christmas packages in the mail before having to pay a ridiculous amount for priority shipping. I knew it would be a long wait, so I was prepared. There was a man who was having some troubles with his mail delivery waiting for his turn at […]

Wonderful Women

I had lunch with a friend today. As we talked about our current state of life, our children, and our grandchildren, it was rather remarkable what a similar path our lives have taken. It was so good to be able to talk with each other who really understood the highs and lows and the emotions […]

Bringing Down the Pressure

Recently, my dad has been having some problems with erratic blood pressure, so we called his cardiologist last week. We spoke to the nurse on call who we have found to be a very helpful service. She talked with his doctor, gave us some guidance for the weekend, and made an appointment to see him […]

Uplifting Despite Hardships

I spent some time this afternoon with a group of young people who came to the church to help pack Christmas food baskets for people who are in need. The event was organized by the group who works with teens in the foster care system. I had met several of the kids before as I […]

More Than Physical

Today is the Solemnity of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is a lot of words that basically means it is the day that the Catholic Church celebrates the fact that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was born and lived completely void of any sin. It makes sense that […]

Exchanging Love

Each time I go to the caregiver support group, I came away with a little more knowledge and a little more inspired. One of the women is taking care of her mother who has dementia and Parkinson’s. She is very committed to her mom and always talks about how much she means to her. Today […]

From Ministry to Minister

A couple of months ago, I connected with a young woman who I knew from my previous home. She is now living in the same state as me, so we caught up over dinner. The other day she told me that her brother was going to be in town for a short time and asked […]

Helping Me Help Mom

After my mom recovered from her most recent hospital stay a couple of months ago, we decided to go to the Parkinson’s Disease support group in our area. Since we are “newcomers”, we were invited to attend a special presentation called “Parkinson’s 101”. We have gained so much information already from the group and were happy […]

Dream Revealed Reality

We monitor my mom’s pulse and blood pressure on a regular basis. Recently, the pulse number has been erratic and sometimes very low. The same thing has happened with my dad due to premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) – extra, abnormal heartbeats that begin in one of your heart’s two lower pumping chambers (ventricles). I thought […]