At my age, it is not too surprising to have a bad health day that keeps me home. But when it happens on Sunday and I must miss Mass, I find myself asking, “Why, God? Why today? Don’t you want me to go to Mass?”
Tag: Mettel
God subtly gets his point across
Throughout my life I have many times been reminded of Sister Gregory, my favorite teacher’s comment that God has a sense of humor.
Grand Mom is still ‘plugging away’
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Editor’s note: We are pleased to welcome back our popular “Grand Mom” columnist, Audrey Mettel Fixmer. We published her last column in November of 2012. This week she explains some of the challenges she has faced in the past 14 months. We hope that Audrey will continue to share her wisdom with us as often as possible. God bless you, Audrey!
Our wonderful editor, Mary Uhler, phoned me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that so many of my faithful readers inquired about me that she felt obliged to offer an excuse for my absence.
Following the recipe for a good life
During the holidays I love hearing from old friends, voices from my past; Charlotte, a “mother’s helper” who lived with us for her senior year of high school and now has grandchildren of her own; Tom and Betty, who taught with Bob in the ’50’s and shared our laughter and tears.
They were the short term relationships, the layers of love that add flavor and richness to our lives. The long term relationships were the foundation.
I thought of the analogy as I was making my seven layer taco dip for a New Year’s Eve party.
Change is not such a bad thing
Aging is all about changes. Some changes are in-evitable. Some are good. And some are plain difficult.
Changing seasons is welcome. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I stood sorting through my closet before dressing for church. The time for rusts and golds was past and it was too soon for Christmas colors. I picked purple.
An hour later as I walked into church, our sacristan grabbed my arm. “You remember that you’re a lector today, right?” I hadn’t, of course.
Faith of our Fathers
I am most thankful this year for my astonishing discovery that traveling in Europe is still possible in your 80’s as long as you have a young and loving travel companion.
I recently did it with my 26 year-old granddaughter, Hillary, and a fun-loving group of Luxembourg Americans. There were 29 of us plus three guides.
Touring the countryside
I loved the rides on the tour bus each day because they were never too long (Luxembourg is only the size of Rhode Island) and the scenery was magnificent.
Inspiration from my elders
Remember how you always looked up to the “older” ones?
When you were four, they were the six-year-olds; they went to school. But when you got to school yourself, it was the eighth graders who were the big shots, and to them it was the high school kids, who looked up to the college kids, etc.
Charity: a connection with life
When a recent series of health problems prevented me from my usual daily activities, including daily Mass, I felt loved by the attentions of my family.
They bought my groceries, picked up my prescriptions, and took me to the doctor. I found myself saying, “Okay, Lord, I get it. That’s why you gave me so many kids. Now give me back my independence.”