For the Benefit of Others

Dear Jo,

Tonight was Confirmation and I stood with your girl Anna as she became an adult in the Catholic church.  She took the name from Elizabeth Ann Seton because of her work in orphanages and Catholic schools; the saint lost her mother at age 3 you know.

It was such a huge honor to worship with your girls on either side of me and watch your widowed husband kneeling when prompted, unfamiliar with all the Catholic cadences and still devoted to your wish and his promise.

Our new Archbishop - Michael Jackels - (super cool, by the way) spoke to the confirmandi and challenged them in ways that make good parents smile.  He told them a happy life was promised to them if they resisted selfishness; if they worked for the benefit of others.  I thought of you, and your dedication to your family, to your friends, to your students, to those less fortunate.

For the benefit of others, we gathered tonight.  And we celebrated our faith.  And we talked of you.

Miss you.

xoxo Jen

They are lovely

They really are...they are lovely.  These two precious girls, Anna and Clara.  These are the children of my friend, my college roommate, Jo, who lost her life to brain cancer on 9.28.2006.

We kept in touch for a while after Jo's funeral, but their dad found a girlfriend and it became obvious that I needed to back out.  Walk away.  I haven't seen them in several years, since they were 7 and 9, and I'm so pleased with what I discovered - two capable girls, 13 and 15, full of opinions and enjoying opportunities, boy crushes, dreams, likes and dislikes.  And a healthy respect for what happened to them, and what happened to Jo, and how they are still connected.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.  Anna needed a confirmation sponsor and her dad, not knowing any other Catholics, but committed to the girls' Catholic schooling and teachings due to Jo's wishes, contacted me.  He apologized profusely for asking for this "favor" and for sure I sobbed at the chance to connect with them again . . . to let them know that even though they were ripped off in the biggest way possible, Jesus loves them.

We had frozen yogurt and went shopping for skinny khakis (permitted school uniform attire) and were reacquainted.  Of course we became Facebook friends immediately.  Seeing their mother with every nuance and glance was just an extra gift.

Clara, me, Anna - at Orange Leaf