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Of birthdays, fatherhood, and ultimate doom……

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Today is my daughter Stephanie’s 17th birthday! It is an exciting day…..especially for her.

But for me, though I am happy for her, personally this birthday seems to terrify me. All her other birthdays seemed tolerable, but this one only marks how little time I have left with her here. Sure, she is only half way through her Junior year, but college is coming in no time, and with it her empty room. Times have already changed. Tonight she is out with her boyfriend and friends, and our birthday celebration for her accommodated that….as it should.

I have thought about all this since the day she was born, and am willing to just enjoy all the time I have with her here. I am proud of her, she is an incredible young woman and just a year from adulthood (though she would tell me she is already there). I could not ask for a better daughter. God has blessed me more than I ever expected.

But it is killing me! Steph and I watched a movie a year or two ago together that came out when she was born…..Father of the Bride. I have always considered it a horror movie, while most prefer to think it is a comedy, but they are clearly not a father to my daughter. At the end of it, while I was in tears, Steph just shook her head in disbelief and told me “Dad, that is EXACTLY you and it is EXACTLY me,” and sadly she was right.

I am sure I will get by. Fortunately for me Amanda is EXACTLY Diane Keaton. Yep, I will need help (as I always have) to get me through the future. But I know Steph will be alright. She is a pretty great kid (okay, young woman) and will do great. I am so very proud of her!

Happy Birthday Stephy, I love you………and I will be waiting up until you get home!

Good night my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

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A milestone birthday for a dear friend……….

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Today was Father Chuck’s 80th birthday. I didn’t get to see him until I was able to arrive at a “surprise party” at his house that started at 2pm. Since I was on the schedule in Nashville and Greenfield, there was just no way to get there in time….but I was able to get there. It was funny too. Chuck is such an easy going guy, and I was told that he had even mentioned at St. Anne’s this morning a little about his birthday, and even how he really doesn’t like being the center of attention……little did he know!!!!!! He was totally fooled. Bonnie his wife even said he wanted to stop at an ATM and a gas station on the way home from church. He fell right into her trap!

Chuck’s house was filled with well-wishers, even as late as I was able to get there. He has lots of people who love him, and it was a great blessing to be there among many of them. I am glad to be one of them!

Happy Birthday Chuck. We love you and are all blessed to be a part of your life!

Tom+

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Happy Birthday Sarah, I miss you…….

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Today I have been remembering my sister Sarah, who would have been 43 today. She died in 2004 from cancer caused by a rare genetic disease that she and my sister Stephanie both had, Bloom’s Syndrome. It is a disease that causes cancer. Stephanie died in 2001.

Sarah and Steph were both pretty good people, I mean as much as sisters can be. Because of the Bloom’s they were both exceptionally short at 4’6″ and weighed maybe 70 pounds as adults soaking wet. Though through the majority of both their lives I was better known as their chief antagonist, I really do miss them. Steph had a heart of gold and Sarah was one of the funniest people to ever walk this earth. When we were younger she often wore bunny ears, and she once even gave an instructional speech for school on how to do the “Bunny Hop.” I understand she got an “A.”

One of my favorite memories of Sarah was one night very late when she and I were watching TV. It was about 1 in the morning. I was a senior in high school, and she was, I think, in 8th or 9th grade. A commercial came on for this scary movie with this killer-type guy staring right out at us. In a great panic she covered her eyes and started shaking and said “tell me when it’s over, tell me when it’s over!” So I did, but before I said it was okay, I opened my eyes just like the guy on the screen, and moved right in front of her face! It was too good to pass up, and I thought it was a riot.

Needless to say, there was A LOT of screaming at that point! Sarah went berserk and screamed her brains out and then leaped at me and tried to take my eyes right out of my head with her own hands. By the time my mom came out of her room, both of us were screaming! She had scared me probably more than I her….after all, I was just kidding around, she however was really going to kill me I am sure. But live and learn….I never messed with her again!

Sisters can sometimes irritate you beyond belief, and most days I really wish they were still around to do it too because I miss them. I usually have a Margarita on Sarah’s birthday (her favorite) but tonight I just forgot that part so writing will have to do. If heaven is a perfect place, which I believe it is, she is probably having one right now for me! And I hope to have one with both of them, many many years from now, when I get there myself!

Here’s to ya Sarah. Happy birthday……I miss you.

Tom+

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Of hammers, birthdays, and doing our part to protect the environment………

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What a day!!

I came home tonight after a full and long day in Nashville. I was out the door at 6:30am, and home at 7:30pm. We got a lot accomplished, and it looks great, but I was probably over the top with activity by 10.

The highlight of the day was that it was Deacon Dan Conley’s birthday today, and we were able to share in a little pizza and cake with him. We only put 1 candle on the cake, since we know that the number we needed was out of our price range, Dan could probably not blow out more than that, and plus we are concerned for the environment. So it was Pizza King and cake, two of my favorite things, and I sat their through lunch wondering if it were indeed my birthday!

We will move to this location in just a little over two weeks. Our service in Nashville is currently on Saturday evening at 5:00pm. On August 31st it will move to Sunday at 9:00am. We expect to grow there with the better time too.

Overall it was a great day. Dan Prather from St. Patrick’s came down to help and a few parishioners from St. Matthew’s stopped in as well. Father Sean was with us, and he’s been great! I believe all of this has been a great learning for him. Of course by this point he probably thinks he works for a construction company instead of a Church, but in truth it really is so much more than worship. In a very real way we help people build and rebuild lives. We help them lay down good foundations, repair and repaint damaged souls…..and occasionally do secular construction too! But it is all good work, and for the opportunity we are all thankful.

Nite my friends and God Bless…..I am off for some Advil and sleep!

Fr. Tom+

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A party to remember…….

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Today we celebrated Ben’s birthday with family and friends, though his birthday is really on Monday. It was a great time too. Ben had no clue as to why everyone was there. He was really quite puzzled as to why all the people were staring at him and singing, and he was even more confused as to why everyone would want to watch him eat cake. When he put his mouth down to his own personal birthday cake (it was pretty cute) everyone gasped with anticipation at the same time! It scared him to death, and he ended up crying before rediscovering the cake before him. Clearly he is my wife’s son…..she cries on her birthdays too!!

We also went down to Nashville for Church, and were traveling with Amanda’s mom and grandpa. It was a long day for everyone, and especially for Ben. He didn’t nap well because he didn’t want to miss anything, but it made for a cranky bedtime. He woke up pretty quickly and is now spending the night in our bed doing his usual routine…….loving up to his mom, and engaging with me in a territorial battle for the small space I occupy on the bed. I don’t mind, I will get him back later!

Anyway tomorrow is another big day! Thanks for checking in.

God bless.

Tom+

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No Lions, No Tigers, but Bears….oh my!!!

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Today, June 23rd, was an important day in my life….it always is. On this day in 1989 I was ordained to the diaconate. Yep, it’s the 19th anniversary of my ordination.

But more important than even that is that today is my grandfather’s birthday. My grandfather passed away in 1996, but he was truly the architect of my life, and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him. He and I spent a lot of time with each other, and yesterday when Ben was wearing a number 34 jersey for pajamas, I thought about how my grandfather would have loved that…..after all 34 was worn by my favorite player of all time, Walter Payton, running back for the Chicago Bears. We were big Bears fans, and we still are…..but being in heaven he just has better seats to the games than I do now.

I remember fondly eating too much and then falling asleep every Sunday afternoon as my grandfather and I watched the games. He watched from his chair, and I from the davenport. I never thought that life would change in those days, and didn’t want it to. But his health failed, I grew up, and a lot of time has passed since then. I still watch the Bears, but it’s now with my kids. Walter Payton is gone too, to liver cancer, but I am sure he had a glorious welcome when he arrived, since the Bears are also God’s favorite team!

I thank God that even though my grandpa is gone, that one day I will see him again. And, I’m thankful that day wasn’t two months ago when I had my stroke, and I am sure he is too. But in God’s time I will get there….we all will. But for today I am thankful to share with you how very blessed I was to have my grandpa (who I remember this day on his birthday) in my life. If I turn out to be even half the man he was to me, I will be doing better than most people I know.

Thanks for everything grandpa! And Happy Birthday!

God Bless!

Tom+

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Of aging and the need of direction……..

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Another day, but this one was my birthday……..my 47th, and it was a good one. Though I am still not feeling quite right (just like yesterday), I had a day filled with well-wishers, family, and friends. I had a lunch meeting with 3 priests and one bishop, and then I went out for dinner for the family thing.

I did exhibit a few icky stroke moments early in the day. On the way to my lunch meeting I was detoured by some construction and got LOST! I was really frustrated because I knew where I was, but just couldn’t get my bearings. Since I was alone, there was no one there to give me advice. I was late to my lunch meeting and thought I probably ought to get me one of those GPS things that I have been too stubborn to get (okay too cheap to get) because it would not only get me to where I need to be, but would end a lot of frustration. It was just a passing thought…….but guess what Amanda and the kids got me???? Yep, a TomTom. How fitting.

So I will begin tomorrow just one day closer to that AARP card I have been seeking (for the Senior Coffee Discounts). My run of cakes is now over, and it is a good thing too……I need to get back to healthy living. I am just thankful for that week each year……fortunately Ben’s birthday is on the 30th, so I will have a little help with withdrawal I might experience!

Thanks for checking in, and God bless.

Tom+

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Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

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It is a big day! Today my grandma turns 92. And though I will not get to see her on her birthday, I do intend to give her a call later this evening.

My grandma was, and is, a big part of my life. She still lives on her own in an apartment in a retirement center about the size of Texas in Goshen, Indiana. She is very active. She still volunteers, she JUST stopped driving (she had a sporty Mercury Cougar), and though she has one of those wheeled walkers with the seat, the storage compartment, and the hand brakes (it’s not as sporty as her Cougar but quite plain……you see them everywhere now) she really doesn’t even need it. She uses it to get back and forth to the mailbox and dining area…..at 92 her apartment is at the very end of her building and the furthest away.

My grandparents have always been such a big part of my life. Just about every weekend I was down at their house, which was 20 miles from where I grew up, and all the time in the summers. So I suppose Goshen is my adopted home town, and of course my grandma’s home still.

At 92 my grandma is still the same….a comforting constant in my life. She still does puzzles, she still keeps up on everything in our family and gives great advice, and she never misses sending a card or a note. And when I was a kid she and I would sit on the front porch together eating grapes, peanut M&M’s and back then she would have a Coke and I a Fresca! You never left her house without a “goodie bag,” and even though those front porch memories are over 40 years old, if you open the first drawer on the right in her kitchen, you will find it loaded with all you would ever need to make one of those bags.

I am the man I am today because of my grandparents, and no,that is not assigning blame!!! I am thankful for it!! She even gave me advice on my stroke….she herself had a devastating one she fully recovered from in her 50’s.

Happy Birthday Grandma. I love you. Thanks for loving me and caring for me. I will see you very soon. I am so very blessed to have you in my life.

Tom+