Snow for Sale--Really Cheap

This picture was taken by Sheila at the first part of the month. Greensburg/Westport has added an additional 9 inches of snow and today I found out that we may be getting 6-12 more inches this weekend. So call it an inventory sale!

Happy Valentines' Day 2010!

Happy Valentines' Day! (tomorrow).

So highly commercialized is this holiday by the candy/card/flower/hotel/restaurant trades, that it is easy to miss the simple message of the day...tell those who are most important to us that we love them. We may not always agree with them. Some days, we may not even like them due to some petty grievances, or day-to-day annoyances, but ultimately love is stronger.

This week, as part of my parish's bereavement ministry team, the reminder to tell those we love that we love them, as we do not know how long we will have them with us, was driven home strongly. In this ministry, we're used to this truth, but when there are personal connections to the grieving families, the reminder is always more powerful. One passing was a lifelong friend of Mom and Dad's who died suddenly. He had gone out in the wee hours of the morning to go to his favorite 24-hour restaurant, as was his habit when he couldn't sleep, but never made it to his destination and was found hours later by his wife of nearly 55 years, next to his car, having had a massive stroke, and he died a couple days later. His family is reeling. The other was the death of a 16-day old infant, the daughter of one of my "kids" from my youth ministry days. Her death was not unexpected, however, the family gracefully and gratefully cherished every second they had with her. The love they lavished on this little girl was a true testament to what love is. Real love is not the hearts and flowers and sappy sentiments the media tries to sell this time of the year, but the day-to-day, even when you are hurting/mad/scared etc, even after 55 years together or 16 days together kind of love.

I love you all. Happy Valentines' Day!

In Memory of Mom 11/1/1932-2/7/1993

It's hard to believe that 17 years have passed since Mom died. It was a Sunday, just like this year. However, I think the weather was warmer than the current 15 degrees and I don't remember snow. I do know that all of us were there at her bedside. In fact, it seemed to me that you waited until we told you that we were all there and okay before you let go of this life and moved on to your new life with God. We miss you.

Happy Birthday Angie!

Happy Birthday to Angie (Dave's wife) today. Wasn't sure I was going to get to upload the attached picture, but finally figured it out. Yeah me. Angie, I hope you have an incredible birthday today. The picture is from the recent "princess movie night" we had in January at my house. Angie's sort of covered up in the picture, but, laying across her lap is niece, Melissa. Behind Melissa is niece Christy and in pink is Miss Kate, in her jammies. We won't rat Angie out on her age.