June Think

It’s been one of those days that gives me much to ponder. Starting a couple weeks ago with Kitty’s death and ending up today with 4 or 5 items clustered into the day there have been many separate instances of life and death and the importance of different people in our lives all swirling around in coincidental slurry.


In rummaging through the storage shed a couple of days ago I came across Mom’s death certificate. She died this time in June. It also happens to be Dad’s birthday yesterday and of course Father’s Day tomorrow.

We’ve had 3 couples here this week for FOCCUS sessions and our discussions with them highlighted the influence and importance of our family members and religion (or lack of religion) on our lives.

Tonight at church there was a baptism and the announcement that one of our parishioners, young and in her prime, simply dropped dead this morning at an athletic event. She attended our mass but I had a hard time picturing what she looked like.

Part of our discussions with the couples is explaining the importance of knowing your partner’s family history as well as telling them yours. Everything from how money was handled and holidays celebrated to their attitudes about sex. Medical issues were also important. We marry each other’s families and a lot of luggage goes with that. Well, that meant talking about our families 3 times this week, explaining Mom, Dad, Sally and Patty are all dead, my relationship with family members and related health issues that have affected my life and our marriage.

I haven’t discovered any new revelations about what life the universe and all that is about. I’ve just found the density of theses topics occurring here in the middle of June interesting. Even my dreams this week were populated with family and many of them set on Alfred St where I grew up. It’ interesting that Mom and Dad can be alive in a dream and your mind just accepts it. When Karen and Christy are in my dreams they are usually around 5 yrs old. My dreams are rarely set in the present.

The underlying theme of all this June Think is the value of all those people in your life. Whether they are family or someone you can’t remember precisely in church. We are all intertwined in our lives. Each person is unique and valuable and irreplaceable. Some mean more than others to us. Just appreciate those you have.