Dominican vows

 The last Saturday of July we had the privilege of witnessing first vows of 19 women in Nashville.  She is now Sister Anne Therese with a black veil.  It was so awesome to be there and witness these young women make their first vows.   There was PURE JOY on their faces and in their voices as they made their vows.  This was our first time to visit Nashville and Sister's home. It was our first time to be at this type of ceremony and it was AMAZING !!!   The chapel was beautiful and pretty amazing Sunday morning when we arrived for mass with all the sisters present. 

white veils  - then black veils  :)

 

Scapular blessing

 Our gift to sister was something to help them celebrate as community.  Duct tape and Aluminum foil are our trademark gift to Sister. 
On her high school graduation with foiled her bedroom. 

 Each bottle was also foiled!!

the Blue Nun wine made her laugh as did several other bottles with special names like St. Francis and Twisted.  We told her next time we'd get her 7 Deadly Zins ..... I think she thought we were kidding!!

What a wonderful trip to make for summer vacation !!!!

Remembering my friend

On Friday February 17th it will be 26 years since our oldest son entered the world. His 13th birthday was marked by the death of my best friend. Sharon was my freshman college roommate for just 6 months -we just clicked.

She died in a car accident on the way to work.

Her daughter once told me she could never understand our friendship. When she asked her mom if she had a best friend it was always me. But, she would say to Sharon you don't go horse back riding or do anything together and you live far apart and you are so different.

Andrea told me that her mom always said no matter when we talked, whether it had been 3 weeks or 3 months, it was like we had just talked the day before. We always seemed caught up with each other like no time had passed. And this was true. I was closer to Sharon then my sisters. I was the sister she never had. I can't count the number of times I was planning to call and she would call or I would call her and she would say I was thinking about you and was going to call. Or planning to call and would get a letter. I always smile when I think about the letters I used to get from her. A note jotted on the back of an old card or more then once on napkins from a diner somewhere.

After 13 years I still miss my friend.