“You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.” – Will Traynor (character), Me Before You
“My father told me once, he said, ‘If you see something wrong happening in the world, you can either do nothing, or you can do something. And I already tried nothing.” – Steve Trevor (character), Wonder Woman
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Summertime is upon us. Children are out of school. Our O’s are about halfway through their season; we are rooting for that second half. Camps have started. Trips have been taken and enjoyed; others planned and anticipated. Flowers and gardens have been watered and continue to be. Hopefully, at least for some, if not most in our parish family, there is the invitation and opportunity to relax a bit more, enjoy a bit more, breathe a bit more; take in a movie, read a book.
The opening quotations are a part of my family’s summertime: the first, said by a character in a book Grace gave me a few months ago; the second, said by a character in a movie our whole family recently enjoyed watching together at The Senator.
They linger with me as I reflect and give thanks for the lives of two “wonder women” whom I … and many of you … have had the honor and privilege of knowing and loving, whose lives we have celebrated this past week even as we grieve their journeying beyond our sight. Both beloved wives, mothers and grandmothers. Caregivers and friends to many. One, a steel magnolia; the other, an anam cara. Both vessels of love and light, strength and kindness.
Their services included the prayer (amended) and quotation below. The love that binds us continues. And the lives they led while they were with us here on earth help light our own way forward, this summertime and for all seasons.
“God our Father, we thank you that you have made each of us in your own image, and given us gifts and talents with which to serve you. We thank you for Sharon and Ann, the years we shared with them, the good we saw in them, the love we received from them. Now give us strength and courage, to leave them in your care, confident in your promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
Cristina