This year's presenter was Deacon Dr. Peter Gittens, from Toronto, Canada. A university professor of theology and philosophy, he led us on a spiritual reflection of Mary, Mother of God, perpetual virgin, who was assumed body and soul into heaven.
OK. So I started this post over a week ago and am just now getting back to it.
First, to continue with the retreat. It was more of a mini conference than a retreat for me, because there wasn't much silence and reflection going on in between the talks. Admittedly this was my own fault. It was just too easy to wander into the cafeteria area for a cup of coffee and sit down and chat with other retreatants until time for the next scheduled event. Since more than half of the couples were from the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, it was an opportunity to meet or get reaquainted with them, so the time wasn't exactly wasted. Still, I don't think I came away as refreshed as I would have if I had tried a little harder to spend time in quiet reflection. Put that on my to-do list for next year!!
The following Tuesday I was on call for JPSO and got a callout to respond to a request for a chaplain at the family of a suicide victim. It was a young man (late 30's, I think) who left behind a wife and two children, ages 13 and 7. The suicide had taken place in another location, thankfully, but it didn't make the visit any easier. Seeing the grief, the self-recrimination, watching as people felt their lives collapsing in on themselves, it is just heartbreaking. It is so hard to try to offer some little bit of comfort without being pushy, or preachy, or feeling like a complete interloper into their pain. To compound the situation, the mother of the victim had already lost one 20 year old son, I think in an accident, and recently her husband had died of a heart attack. She was, understandably, devastated. The mother arrived about an hour after I did, so it was like responding to two calls at once. Please pray for the families, especially the wife, the mother and the children.
The mood picked up later in the week when we went to MD/DLG's house for cake and ice cream to celebrate Molly-moo's fifth birthday!! She was adorable, and absolutely the center of attention! And, it is always nice to see BB and Ian. An added bonus was seeing Ian the day before when he met us, in between classes, for lunch at New Orleans Food and Spirits. Can't get enough of Ian!! He's really grown up to be a fine young man!
This week we had a very nice time with H2/H2FGFNW and 3/Angelle at Izzo's Illegal Burrito. That was outstanding!! It was a burrito/nacho/taco/salad place that operated like Subway. You told them what you wanted, then what you wanted on it, and watched them put it together. Most definitely dee-lish!!!
Later in the week we had Chinese with KenEllie at a new (to us) restaurant (Little Chinatown) over on Williams Blvd. The cuisine was different, in a good way, from the places we usually go to, but still very tasty. After dinner we went to Starbucks for coffee and casual conversation. All in all a most enjoyable evening!!
Starting to count the days until we head back to Del Rio and Houston for visits. We can't wait!! Bob, Irma and BV are always wonderful to visit, and we can't ever see enough of H1/DIL1!! It should be a very nice trip.
