On the NCR site today:
Whether we still have religious freedom is a legitimate question to ask, if people are in fear of being harassed and arrested at their place of worship.
From the article:
As the Trump administration continues its aggressive deportation campaign, Roman Catholic bishops across Southern California are scrambling to tend to their panicked congregations by issuing strong statements of condemnation and, in one case, resorting to an extraordinary measure.
Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino on July 8 issued a decree freeing members of the diocese from the Sunday and Holy Day obligation to attend Mass when they fear "potential immigration enforcement actions by civil authorities."
San Bernardino joins the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, in dispensing Catholics from the obligation to attend Mass. Such dispensations occur on special occasions and circumstances, such as the global pandemic, but this marks a rare occasion where U.S. government enforcement actions have resulted in such a move.
Rojas' decree comes two weeks after federal agents detained migrants on Catholic Church property at two parishes in his diocese about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Those actions reversed decades-old norms that fear of arrest or harassment should not deter people from practicing their religion.
The unusual moves come as more and more bishops have begun to speak out about President Donald Trump's policy of mass deportation deploying aggressive tactics that have terrified many immigrant populations, including many in the country legally.
"This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes," Archbishop José Gomez of the Los Angeles Archdiocese wrote in a recent column.
Gomez, a Mexican immigrant himself, has long supported immigration reform, but he has become more openly critical of the Trump administration, condemning the raids, as deportation tactics have escalated.
"...Some Catholic leaders in Los Angeles have been on the front lines. Jesuit Fr. Brendan Busse, pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, volunteers with his neighborhood's rapid response network and is trained to offer support and resources to families when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity is reported.
Busse said he was recently called for help after ICE vehicles rammed a car about a mile from his parish and removed a man from the car, leaving his wife and two babies in the back seat. When Busse arrived, the fire department was giving medical assistance to the mother. He still recalls the diaper bag sitting in the back seat of the pummeled car.
"The language the community has been using is that they feel hunted," Busse said. "They feel like there's these masked men who are going around just kidnapping people. It's much, much different than the way this enforcement has happened in the past."
The ICE raids and the fear they induce is not limited to the Los Angeles area.
Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, Calif., concelebrates Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 17, 2025. (CNS/Pablo Esparza)
In San Bernardino County, as the National Catholic Reporter reported earlier, two men were taken into custody on the grounds of St. Adelaide Parish in Highland, on the same day a longtime parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes in Montclair was picked up on church property.
"...San Bernardino Diocese spokesman John Andrews said that the diocese has been bracing for something like this since the Trump administration took office in January. In preparation, the diocese has collaborated with local immigrant rights organizations and held workshops in its parishes and online to help parishioners understand how to respond if they encounter an ICE agent.
Other dioceses have also worked to be present in the community. Isaac Cuevas, director of immigration affairs for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, said several of its parishes have been doing prayer vigils and making deliveries from food pantries to those who can't leave their homes.
Jarryd Gonzales, spokesperson for the diocese in neighboring Orange County, said the diocese has shared response protocols and distributed resource tool kits. The bishops from the Orange Diocese have visited impacted communities to offer prayer, and, following Pham's example, are coordinating priests and deacons to accompany individuals at immigration court hearings.
"In June, the Orange bishops issued a statement condemning the Trump administration for spreading "crippling fear and anxieties upon the hard-working, everyday faithful among us."
Bishop Rojas was an auxiliary bishop in Chicago before being appointed to San Bernardino diocese. San Bernardino is actually the fifth-largest diocese in the United States by Catholic population.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Trump's immigration-law enforcement tactics: this is from a Pew Research Center article from June 17:
"78% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents approve of the administration’s approach to immigration, including 51% who strongly approve. Just 12% disapprove.
"In contrast, 81% of Democrats and Democratic leaners disapprove, with 63% strongly disapproving. Just 9% approve."
His base is on board. The right-wing media is on board. And from what we can tell, Congress is on board.
If even one house of Congress flipped to the Democrats in the 2026 elections, then at the very least, Congressional hearings could be held on these Gestapo tactics.
Here is the link to that Pew article: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/17/americans-have-mixed-to-negative-views-of-trump-administration-immigration-actions/#:~:text=54%25%20disapprove%20of%20increasing%20Immigration,Angeles%20by%20the%20Trump%20administration.)
DeleteI often feel sick, literally, reading the news. Especially because these events in California are occurring in areas of the state I know very well. My hometown is 30 minutes drive up the mountain from San Bernardino and that’s where we went when we needed city things that we couldn’t get in our little mountain town. So I can picture it all in my mind.
DeleteWhat makes me really sick to the point of near despair is knowing that “Christians”, including 60% of white Catholics, are cheering this cruelty on. The bishops are complicit. They condemn these actions mildly ( with the exceptions noted in this story) but they mostly kept their collective mouths shut while trump campaigned on these promises. He’s doing what he said he wanted do, and these pseudo “ Christians “ love him for it. None of this is a surprise. He ran on a platform of stirring up hate of the immigrants especially, but also, refugees, POC, and Muslims.. Pham is Viet Namese. I think he came here as an immigrant, the child of refugees.
Stein's law; when something can't go on indefinitely, it will stop. Trump's motivating impulse in his second term is revenge. Against anyone, any city, any state he perceives as having hurt him or opposed him, whether it makes sense or not. Revenge isn't a rational plan. He has picked a fight with California. He's picking a fight with New York, threatened to arrest and deport a citizen who is a mayoral candidate he can't stand. A lot of other examples. The blue states and districts he hates will fight back. It won't end well. He thinks he can't be stopped. He is mistaken.
DeleteIndividual bishops are starting to speak up. This is from Cardinal Cupich's weekly column in our local diocesan newspaper:
Delete"'Unconscionable cuts.' This is the term Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, used to describe the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Congress enacted this week. The cuts he referred to are those “to healthcare and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.
"The archbishop pulled no punches in observing that “the bill, as passed, will cause the greatest harm to those who are especially vulnerable in our society. As its provisions go into effect, people will lose access to health care and struggle to buy groceries, family members will be separated, and vulnerable communities will be less prepared to cope with environmental impacts of pollution and extreme weather. More must be done to prevent these devastating effects.”
Jim, very few bishops, and I’m guessing that the pleat of right- wing priests in the parches are not saying much.
DeleteICE is the vanguard of a lawless fascist takover. They, like their President, do not believe in law, only power. It is so strange to be alive now. Even when I mow my lawn, I think, “why am I mowing the lawn while my country is being destroyed?” I look at the things that need to be done with my house and think “isn’t it ridiculous to worry about these things while the whole system is collapsing around me?” Won’t even my region of normalcy eventually be swept away by a tsunami? Is this IT for the American way of life?
ReplyDeleteI get it. I still believe there is a chance we can keep the ship of state afloat with pressure on elected officials and votes in 2026. Even then, it will need a lot of repairs and the bilge pumps will have to work overtime. Mow your lawn to keep your strength up.
DeleteStanley, I think most white, middle class Americans can just keep mowing their lawns as long as they also keep their mouths shut publicly. I’ve read a bit about life in the occupied countries during the Nazi era. The Christian Aryans who kept their mouths shut were ok until the true fighting began. They weren’t being rounded up like the Jews, homosexuals, Roma, disabled children and frail elderly. The Jews were eventually murdered in the camps, as were homosexuals and Roma. The disabled Aryan children were sent to “ hospitals “ for “treatment”. Tragically , many of them “died” there. The parents didn’t know that they were actually murdered until it was revealed after the war, just as their old grandma was murdered when she went to the hospital .
DeleteThere is a powerful and compelling French TV series called “A French Village”, about life in a fictional French town in occupied France, near the Swiss border and also near the border to free France. It is a drama about the lives of the French after the Nazis took over. It shows the change in the lives of the regular citizens, the courage of the Resistance, the lack of courage of the collaborators, the tension between the communists and the regular resistance. It is powerful. I recommend it - it’s on Prime Video. The dialogue is dubbed - in English - , quite skillfully.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_village_fran%C3%A7ais
Our son and family are heading to Spain next week for their annual stay there.This year they are not only unable to get a home exchange as they usually do (few Europeans want to come to the US on vacation now apparently) they are taking precautions they never had to worry about before. Our daughter in law is a naturalized citizen with black skin. They are very anti- trump. The article from Wired describes what they are doing this year because of the rise of the gestapo state in our country. It’s hard to believe that it’s reached this level with no outcry from most Americans. We sit back and watch - frozen.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protect-yourself-from-phone-searches-at-the-us-border/
Thanks for the Prime Video reference, Anne. I’ll take a look. The Wired article was interesting. I’ve been thinking of getting a burner phone in case I visit Canada or go to Europe. My friend had no problem returning recently from her European trip. But then again, she’s blond, blue eyed. I guess I can pass, too, but I know which side I’m on. An AI has only to scan my internet posts and I’m definitely on the Great Leader’s fecal roster, though not important enough yet. I like the saying of the Poles during the Partition, “In the Name of God, for our freedom and for yours”.
DeleteHere's what I don't get: A Catholic school in my diocese had the money to sue Gov Whitmer over her COVID masks-in-school rule. Why doesn't the Church have money to join lawsuits against ICE tactics that interfere with worship?
ReplyDeleteI hope that Catholic clergy insist on being allowed to minister to those locked up on Alligator Alcatraz and will report to the world on what's going on in there.
But I guess the best they can do is a dispensation telling people they won't go to hell if they hide.
My guess is, the Catholic school in your diocese had the services of a conservative legal-advocacy group for their lawsuit.
DeleteThere are legal-advocacy groups willing to take on the Trump administration in court, but it's a different roster of advocacy groups. The church would have to be willing to work with the ACLU (and vice-versa).
Well, better alla them people die of malaria, heat stroke, and snake bites than that we join up with the Godless ACLU!
DeleteThere are clergy, including some bishops, who are accompanying people to their asylum hearings. Also some clergy and lay people taking food to people who are afraid to go out. Also priests taking the Eucharist and saying Masses in people's homes.
DeleteNot sure how much good a public document such as "Mit brennender Sorge" by Pius XI in 1937 would do, might be worth a try.
The popes in the 1930s and 1940s handled Hitler with kid gloves. Essentially saying “ you keep your hands off our churches and schools and we’ll keep our Papal mouths shut and look the other way.” Individual Catholics, including a quite a few priests and nuns p, and a bishop in France who later became Pope, helped the Jews at the risk of their lives and many died when discovered. But the Popes and most bishops in Germany and occupied Europe lacked their moral courage. .
DeleteI think, as Catholic Christians, we don't fight fire with fire. If the current administration is bringing hatred, violence and abrogation of civil and human rights, then we react with love, solidarity and bridge-building to immigrants.
ReplyDeleteYes, our first priority should be helping the victims. And then trying to curtail the government sponsored hatred and violence. We might have more luck with that on the state and local level.
DeleteI’m far less complacent than Jim and Katherine. I don’t advocate violence, but there is little we can do to help the immigrants and refugees except donate money to the groups and pro- bono law firms trying to help them. I am not at all confident that this will end in 2026 or 2028 or ever. The plan - well on its way to full implementation - is to set up permanent authoritarian rule modeled after Hungary and Russia - faux democracies, no or few civil rights for religious, sexual and ethnic minorities. No real free press, no academic freedom, no real freedom of speech. They are pretty advanced on some of this now with the help of the Catholics on the SC. Once trump is gone, with all the power concentrated in the presidency he will be replaced by a handpicked successor.
DeleteMaybe it will end eventually, but it could take decades.the 20th century history of both eastern and Western Europe provide warnings that complacent Americans are ignoring.
The mostly mild rebukes from bishops are pretty meaningless. I keep waiting for one or more of them to declare that the Catholic MAGA politicians and Catholic SC judges should be denied communion if they approach to receive. Dolan says trump is a very sincere Christian. Pardon me but that’s pure BS. Same for Vance and dozens of Catholic politicians .Why hasn’t Dolan retired yet! He’s old enough.
The father of one of our son’s good friend is a retired Christian journalist - among the 18% of evangelicals who don’t support trump. He wrote for Christianity Today for years, but stopped when they swung towards trump. He now blogs. He sent this today. He lives in Northern California but is well acquainted with Southern California.
Delete“ I found it more than a little creepy that on Monday, June 7, heavily armed, masked ICE agents and National Guard troops showed up in L.A.’s MacArthur Park and marched through it, marking their territory. They didn’t seem to be there for any purpose other than a show of force. Gregory Bongino, a Customs and Border Protection chief in Southern California, told Fox News, ““Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.”
BTW, Fox news was “ embedded” with the troops, apparently invited along to help the goal of spreading fear and intimidation.
Various bishops used to talk about denying communion to Joe Biden and Catholic Dems because they didn't support anti-abortion laws.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for those same bishops to put the same pressure on Catholic pols for supporting Trump's ICE policies.
Ha!
DeleteSince everyone here reads, a change of pace. It’s from a Facebook source called Goodwill Librarian
ReplyDeleteHere are some fascinating facts about books that will leave you amazed:
1. Roosevelt read an average of one book per day.
2. Harvard University Library has four books bound in human skin.
3. Iceland tops the world in per capita book reading.
4. People who read books are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
5. In Brazilian prisons, reading a book can reduce a prisoner's sentence by four days.
6. The most stolen book is the Bible.
7. Victor Hugo’s *Les Misérables* contains a sentence with 823 words.
8. Virginia Woolf wrote all her books while standing.
9. Leo Tolstoy's wife hand-copied the manuscript of *War and Peace* seven times.
10. There are over 20,000 books written about chess.
11. Noah Webster took 36 years to write his first dictionary.
12. The Mahabharata is the only book or epic in the world with over 1,200 characters.
13. Words like “hurry” and “addiction” were invented by Shakespeare.
14. If all the books in the New York Public Library were lined up, they would stretch 8 miles.
15. The longest novel ever written is *In Search of Lost Time* by Marcel Proust, with over 1.2 million words.
16. The first book ever printed was the Gutenberg Bible in 1455.
17. J.K. Rowling is the first billionaire author, thanks to the success of the Harry Potter series.
18. Charles Dickens was paid by the word, which is why many of his books are so lengthy.
One of my favorite Mencken quotes:
Delete“What ails American literature, fundamentally, is what ails the whole of American culture, politely so called: a delusion of moral duty.”
Interesting list about books, Anne.
DeleteMy "book phase" right now is non-fiction books, mainly nature, science, psychology, etc. Staying away from anything about wars and politics. Unfortunately my book club has been picking very dark depressing fiction lately.
Katherine, you might like Bernd Heinrich's "Ravens in Winter" is a great seminal study of raven behavior. More or less a diary of spending a winter up in Maine watching ravens. Especially interesting to see how ravens differ from crows. Irene Pepperberg's book about her gray parrots and language experiments is also interesting.
DeleteI'll have to see if our library has Ravens in Winter. It's interesting that ravens appear in the Bible, bringing food to Elijah. Both ravens and crows are known to share food with each other. It appears that crows only live about half as long as ravens.
DeleteRavens and crows appear in a lot of early English and Irish hagiography. They brought food to St Guthlac a la Elijah, to emphasize Guthlac's holiness by recalling the Bible story. But ravens also reverberated with pagan audiences as helpers of the gods. Odin's ravens were Thought and Memory, who gathered intel for him and gave him wisdom. Ravens were important to Druids for having foretelling prophecies. So ravens or crows showing up to feed St Guthlac would, to a pagan audience, speak to his wisdom and power.
DeleteKatherine, I’m still reading light, escape fiction mostly. I am probably about 80% of my before my husband’s fall off the ladder self . I can’t read dark or depressing and my mind still can’t handle much complexity. No science for me, and I have a hard time with spiritual reading. I used to devour books by spiritual writers. Political makes me angry sometimes, but mostly depressed and gives me a feeling of hopelessness - fear for the futures of my grandchildren, especially my four mixed race grandchildren, and their moms who are naturalized citizens.
DeleteI never imagined that I would fall apart as much as I did - basically non- functional. Last summer a friend recommended a book called It’s Okay that You’re Not Okay. I haven’t read the whole book. The author says that that’s ok too - read the chapters that seem most relevant. For me that was Ch. 9, which describes what happens to the brain when it’s overwhelmed with grief. The book mostly addresses grief from the death of a loved one, but also from severe trauma like sudden paralysis. I experienced more depression than my husband, grieving for him, the most active person I have ever known, now helpless, and grief for the loss of “our” life - the little things that made up our daily life like walking together, old people yoga classes, the short road trips - day trips - the overseas travel, the long road trips. We both loved traveling together, near and far. We liked seeing how both landscapes and architecture changed - dramatically in Europe as you entered new countries ( driving)almost as soon as you crossed a border, gradually in the US on the coast to coast trips, and Maine to Florida coastal driving trips, the trees, all the different types. The flatness of Kansas and then the drama of the Rockies. The food changes - even fast food. Driving south we knew we really were in the south when McDonalds had grits and sweet tea on the menu.
It’s written from the psychologist author’s personal experience and describes what happened to her brain functioning ( not functioning) - and my non- functional brain - very well. It reassured me that I hadn’t gone permanently crazy, and that’s how I felt for a very long time. I’m better, but not whole. Coming home accelerated my recovery, but I had to fight all the doubters, including our three sons. That battle was very painful for me too. I understood why they had no faith in me to be able to manage again, but it still hurt me deeply.
https://www.amazon.com/Its-That-Youre-Not-Understand/dp/1622039076
Jack, I don’t know if anything in the book would help Betty with her grief. Losing a child - at any age - may be the hardest loss of all.
Delete"It's Okay That You're Not Okay" sounds like it would be good. I've been around people (and also have been that person) who were trying to act like they're okay when they're not. It doesn't work. I have a "three rock" theory. I can carry two good sized rocks in my mental tote bag, but when a third gets added in, I cross the line into "not okay". Any death of a loved one would be two rocks. A bad health diagnosis is two rocks. If you already have two rocks, any pebble tilts it to three. The death of a child would be three boulders right there.
DeleteMany years ago, one of my students wrote a really interesting research paper in which she talked about losing her mom and being sent to a grief center for kids where they were marched thru a series of activities designed to accelerate the "grieving process" so they could get over it and not be a big sad drag on their families. I learned a lot from reading the paper and chatting with her.
DeleteI see similar attitudes in my cancer support group--it's a good place to share info and strategies for physical well-being, but the newly diagnosed get resentful when long-term patients talk about the grim days and how life becomes more constricted as the cancer progresses. They want you to be a big success story for them and prove that after 15 or 20 years you're winning marathons and rock climbing, not sitting around in your pajamas at noon with brain fog knowing that lunch is going to taste like sawdust and probably give you cramps a half hour after you eat.
I would think there would be a whole bunch of variables, such as what kind of cancer they had, what stage it was, what kind of treatment they had to go through and for how long. There might be people who go back to sort of normal. But I think even for cancers with a good chance of cure it's a life changing event.
DeleteI'm plugged into the Mayo group for people with my general group of blood cancers. These cancers are not curable, they progress slowly, and they are not staged like acute cancers such as you and Anne had. The trick is to shut up about it with your family and friends until you hit the wall so they don't get empathy burnout. I hit the wall last year, and I am trying (with varying degrees of success) to convey my new limits to various people, which is tiresome and tiring.
DeleteI was uprooted suddenly, on two days notice. Even though I knew I would be safe, cared for by our sons in California, it was a visceral shock on top of the shock of my husband’s accident and the fear that he would die at any moment. This of course has prompted a lot of thinking about death - those of friends and family, and someday of my husband and myself. So many losses now that we are old.
DeleteBut the sudden need to pack a few things and close the door of the house behind me, not knowing if we would ever return, made me think a lot about the fear and anxiety and grief of the millions of refugees in the world - including those would be immigrants who come to our border, all of them carrying only what fit in a suitcase. Forced to leave their homes, their families, their communities, and, often, their countries behind. They are high on my prayer list, and the groups who help them receive most of our charitable contributions .
. I pray for them extensively, lying in bed at night thinking about them. I, at least, had safe places to live - family homes - but they have nothing besides what the kindness of strangers provides them. The shelters at the border, mostly funded and run by Christian church groups, especially Catholic, especially Catholic women religious. The tent camps in the Middle East, in Turkey, Greece and in Asia, funded and operated mostly by international humanitarian aid groups - groups who have lost the support of the richest country on earth.
Jean, I worry about my closest friend here - one of two that were my heart sisters ( the other friend died 18 months ago of a form of Lou Gehrig disease). She is the friend whose breast cancer returned as stage 4, twenty years after thinking she had beaten it. She has been relentlessly positive publicly, and does not belong to a cancer support group. But her mask slipped recently, when she looked at the doctor notes after being switched to another chemo protocol - the third I think. He gave her 2 years. I struggle with not knowing what to say. She’s been my biggest booster ( after the sister who died) and puts on the smiling face whenever we connect. I want to help her but don’t know how.
DeleteIt might help to think about what you mean by help and whether she wants or needs it.
DeleteI tend to want fewer people around cuz I just don't have the bandwidth to hold up a conversation some days. I sure do NOT want phone calls and visits out of the blue or people bringing me food. Cards, letters, emails, and texts are always good cuz I don't have to respond immediately.
But everybody's different.
My friend is Greek, and immersed in her family and Greek church community. She still babysits her young grandchildren semi-full- time, and takes them to and from school ( the older) and pre- school.Her youngest child is having her first - this week, because labor will be induced on Tuesday if it doesn’t happen naturally. My friend seems concerned about whether or not she can do full time care for her best grandchild as she did for the four older grandchildren. She wants to, but I think her stamina is waning. . She has always been very social within her Greek community. We became friends (with the friend who died also) when we started a playgroup for our two year olds - 45 years ago. She lives in our neighborhood, about 1/2 mile walk. She brings me food regularly!
DeleteFrom the time my husband fell off that ladder she worked to prop me up emotionally with, texts and emails.and calls, but I couldn’t talk to people on the phone. So she stopped calling. Sadly, I missed some phone calls from the third member of our soul sister group - I couldn’t talk, and did not know that she was near death. I will always regret not answering those phone calls for one last conversation.
After we got home my Greek friend has stopped by regularly, without notice, bringing food. The time period of each of the chemo protocols she has been on continuing to work seem to be getting shorter with each new protocol. For the first time she has shown her emotions visibly, but quickly puts on her smile again. I don’t know if I should bring up studies that indicate progress in developing new treatments for her cancer or just stay with shallow conversations about the plans for her grandchild’s birthday party. I try to let her take the lead. She has followed strict food guidelines for the cancer, and now has diabetes, triggered by the chemotherapy apparently. So food offerings are getting really hard.
Anne said
DeleteJack, I don’t know if anything in the book would help Betty with her grief. Losing a child - at any age - may be the hardest loss of all.
Thanks Anne, I ordered the book. I know of two families that have lost daughters in their late twenties, early thirties. Neither ever got over it. Like it took a decade for them to even be able to mention their daughter.
On the other hand, mourning is very unpredictable, at least in my life. When my mother died, it was like I had quickly aged, from feeling like a thirty-year old to being the fifty-year that I actually was. I continued to feel like a fifty-year old until I was in my late seventies when I got my balance problem. Now my psychological age is beginning to catch up to my biological age.
My dad's death was a relief. He had lived a long life, but it was beginning to be increasing discomforting. He declined an operation for lung cancer that was likely to lead to an even more uncomfortable life.
When my father was in his eighties, his favorite phrase was "the mind says go, the body NO." I am increasing giving up activities, like gardening. Gardening, which was once a delight, is now a chore. I cannot imagine how I was able to do all the things that I once did. The mental and physical energy are just not there anymore. My "to do" list keeps rising while my "done" list is declining.
I was once described as someone who set ambitious goals and exceeded them. However, I was never a workaholic. I have always been a good planner who thinks in the long term, five, ten and twenty years and prioritizes. However more recently I have begun to think in terms of what I want to do in the next three years (a rolling three years) and assume that after that I will have a much more limited productive life. I am beginning to think now not in terms of how much I can do in those three years but how much I can accomplish things with time left over.
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DeleteJack, I am continuing to pray for you and Betty. I think you are right about mourning being unpredictable. It's sometimes shadows and darkness, but at times with sunlight breaking through unexpectedly, especially if the person suffered a great deal. My mom died at the age of 68, at the end of a very bad year after being diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. My dad went through a slow decline with heart and lung issues and died at the age of 93. The last words that I can remember him saying were "I don't know how much longer I can do this." Apparently God heard him, he died less than 24 hours after he said that.
DeleteEver since I hit my seventies I've been in the mode of, " I was just minding my own business, and all of a sudden 1975 was 50 years ago!" Sometimes I've joked that think our house is haunted, I keep seeing this old lady in the mirror. I do think there is part of us that is ageless, it's our body that lets us down.
I think Jack has observed once or twice that, after a certain point, age is mostly heredity and attitude. Some people are decrepit by 65, some spry into their 90s. I used to feel bitter that my mom, despite the years of addiction and negativity, lived into her late 80s while I'll be lucky to make it to 75. Now I feel that, given how miserable she was and how much misery she caused, I should be grateful that I lived long enough to break that cycle of addiction and dependence for my own kid.
DeleteKeep an eye on your air quality today. The weather cooled off, but that means those Canadian wildfires are throwing a lot of ash into the air and raising ozone levels. I am enjoying a cool morning with my nasturtiums before I have to shut up the house: air.gov