Friday thoughts....

senior pics of Cassie; 9-month(?) photos of Makenna

The dreary days of oncoming winter...how we do have to combat them one at a time. Today was not a pretty day like the many we've had recently. Glad I had a birthday to celebrate....my longtime friends Suzie Longo (birthday gal), Sharon Mackenzie, and I have made a plan to get together for each other's birthdays. Soccer tied us together for so many years. But now that Mario is out of coaching and Frank is gone, the three of us put our birthdates on the calendar so we at least sit down at table 3 times a year. Must make the effort. These are valued friendships of 40+ years, and we still have some good laughs and stories to share.

I was thinking today about my trip to Jacksonville this Sunday for the last reunion-planning meeting. It is strange to spend a day there and not see Paige. I know she loves her new life at Augustana, and I would not wish her back home just for myself. But I wonder if she has any idea how much she is missed by all of us. I have missed seeing Cassie this week, as she has been home for her fall break. I hope to catch her next time. Since Carrie has never left Quincy, I have not gone through this with a daughter. But how well I remember the two years of grieving my loss when Chris went to college at SIU. I didn't tell him about it, although I did ask Mario to call him a few times and tell him to call his mom (which he of course did!) There just isn't any easy way to get through the nest emptying. But there is certainly a lot to celebrate when a child leaves enthusiastically to start the next phase of their lives. They are always our babies. And even though they don't think in those terms, we let them go because that is what God designed for our children when they are ready. And the best part of it all is when the "baby girl or boy" calls on the way home from work, or is sitting in an airport waiting for the plane, or is in some faraway place, or is at home and just calls to talk to you. Simple, caring conversation. It completes something in me, though I don't know quite what. It's just the wanting to talk to Mom. I know that feeling myself.

Tomorrow we will go to a 50th wedding anniversary celebration in the evening. I like all the people in this family very much, and I was on the TEC recently with a couple of the young men from the family. Outstanding young men. So I will look forward to seeing them and toasting the special occasion with all of them.

Next weekend our church is honoring all the couples in the parish who have been married 25 years or more. So I dropped a wedding photo off at the rectory, and someone there is making a power point presentation before the 5:30 mass. A nice thing to do. Mario and I are taking our new pastor, Fr. John Burnette, out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant on Tuesday. We sat with him at QND's football game Friday night and enjoyed talking with him so much. He likes Mexican food, and there are apparently parishoners from this restaurant, so this will be a doubly good visit/dinner.

I came across the photos I've posted of Cassie when I was looking for the photos of Makenna. Somebody sent them to me awhile back for the blog, but they were lost in a folder til just now :o)....I still don't really understand how my computer stores photos. I just have to get lucky sometimes to find what I am looking for! I have over 1500 photos stored on my computer, and Tony tells me I have plenty of room for more.

Happy weekend, all.