nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp My dad s funeral Mass was said last summer in a church that he had not often attended After he was buried my mother moved to a smaller house in another town In November she got a letter from the parish where the funeral had been inviting our family to a special

nbsp nbsp nbsp Here rsquo s the kind of year I rsquo m having I rsquo m in the uncomfortable position of being not holy enough for my religious friends and too holy for my non-religious friends I have always lived with the suspicion that I don rsquo t really fit in anywhere that I am a perpet

nbsp nbsp nbsp Our daughter s best friend got married over Labor Day weekend Our families met in 1986 when our oldest girls were three years old It was a beautiful wedding in beautiful Monterey where the newlyweds live The wedding theme was oceanic and tropical the bridesmaids in slim stra

nbsp nbsp nbsp One of my youngest daughter s friends marked the summer after her high school graduation by getting an abortion Apparently she was petrified that her father would have her slightly older boyfriend thrown in jail that she would have to put off going to college and that her mothe

nbsp nbsp nbsp My dad died on the Fourth of July Tired of his losing battle against congestive heart failure and kidney failure he had decided on July 2 to stop his thrice weekly dialysis treatments The hospice people came to the house and set him up with a hospital bed a sweet and caring nu

nbsp nbsp nbsp When we were newlyweds my husband and I played a silly game that we called Life is a Musical We d make up dramatic arias and ballads and rhymes about the most mundane parts of our daily lives Then we d sing to each other about doing the dishes or sweeping the porch or slicin

A balance of solitude and community makes for a good spiritual place to be I live in a closely-knit family which I treasure but I know that I am not centered if I never spend any time alone with God Conversely I know people who believe that one-on-one time is enough that a thoughtful walk in t

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp From a recent ad in my local newspaper HAVING KIDS IS GREAT WHAT IT DOES TO YOUR BODY ISN T The ad goes on ostensib

It s not what you re thinking The reason an IUD was inserted into my uterus earlier today is medical It is one more attempt in a two-year succession of attempts to tame my monstrous perimenopausal menstrual cycle that has plunged me into insecurity and anemia And I m not sure which is wor

nbsp nbsp nbsp My husband and I look forward every year to attending the Religious Education Congress Organized by the Los Angeles Archdiocese the Congress takes place in Anaheim which I suppose makes it the religious equivalent of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team nbsp nbsp