ten days in an island paradise

We are freshly back (as in, we returned home about 27 hours ago) from 10 amazing days in La Isla del Encanto, also known as B's mom's beautiful island paradise of Puerto Rico.  It was at times a very jam-packed ten days - full of family visits, my sister-in-law's wedding, our nephew's baptism, plenty of sightseeing and lots of eating.  It is always a joy to be with my in-laws, and this trip was no exception.  I am especially grateful for the ability to have been able to travel to the island to be with our family, due much in part to their abundant generosity, particularly because our own finances are so tight.  

After ten days with what seemed like dozens of in-laws, I remain supremely convinced that my husband owes much of who he is today to his beautiful family.  He is a man fiercely loyal, tremendously giving, (at times) ridiculously stubborn, and intensely loving.  He has inherited all of these traits from this amazing family of which I am now also a part, thanks to our beautiful vocation.  

Regular posting to resume (hopefully) now that we are back home.  

a presto :-)

ten quick things! i am....

1. happily resuming these silly little interlude posts that I used to do last spring.  It's fun to go back and look at those and see what little things we were up to - a new recipe we were trying, what music we listened to, what twists and turns life took, that kind of thing.  Call it my measly attempt at starting a type of weekly journal.  
2. Dogsitting for my aunt and uncle this weekend.  They are in La Isla del Encanto for a friend's daughter's wedding and we are here watching their two cocker spaniels (and serving as a bit of an adult presence for their teenagers - who don't really need us here, but we're happy to be here regardless!).  It's been really fun - I'm pretty sure we're a bit uncool to my teenage cousins, but it's still be enjoyable to see what their everyday life is like (at least to an extent).  And might I add that the dogs are hilarious?  Cheap entertainment at its best.  :-)    
3. Celebrating my sister's birthday tomorrow.  My sister doesn't like to drive in "the big city" where we live (although my Texan husband would argue that our city is more like a town, compared to where he grew up), so when she comes to visit we either meet her halfway and drive her car the rest of the way, or my mom brings her halfway.  This time, it didn't work out to do either, so B graciously offered to drive there and back (total travel time: 4 hours) to go get her so we could celebrate her birthday here tomorrow.  (Rumor is that all she wants to do to ring in the birthday is eat appetizers and watch the Academy Awards.)  They are on their way back now, hopefully back by 6:30 so we can all head to Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner.  :-)  On the docket for tomorrow: Mass, Banana Cream Pie (her request), a dog birthday party (my cousin's Labrador Retriever is turning one tomorrow too), and the big awards show.  It should be quite the day.  :)  
4. anxiously awaiting word on a potential job offer.  Not much I want to say here, in case it wouldn't work out, but I am extremely excited at the possibility.  Word is that they were checking in with my references this past week.  It is a particularly unique opportunity with a non-profit organization here in town.  At this point, I just want to hear back - it has become a month-long application and interview process and, if I'm the right candidate for them, I can't wait to get started!  :)
5. scouring the internet for reasonable airline fare.  We are due to travel ourselves to La Isla del Encanto in just under five weeks, for B's sister's wedding.  We are (hopefully) going to stay for ten days - that is, if this job works out and I am able to secure that amount of time off.  (In any event, B would stay for ten days and I would potentially come home early.)  Our nephew will be baptized the following weekend, so staying through the first two weekends in April would be wonderful, but I am more than content with having to come home in the event that the organization would need me to be back earlier.  This has been a particular challenge for us - money is still extremely tight as our payday schedule has adjusted with B's new job (and our savings has been significantly depleted during B's month of unemployment in December), so we are definitely going to have to rely on assistance from our parents to secure the airfare.  And if the airfare was cheaper, it would be that much easier to pay for!  Right now, tickets for that window are about $500 apiece.  Repeatedly in this process of looking for airfare, we have laughed and thought to ourselves, "this wedding just had to be in Puerto Rico" - meaning, it just had to be in a location where the airfare was going to be particularly expensive.  Despite our own selfish ideas about where the location of the wedding should have been, we will do our best to be there, to be supportive, and to do whatever we can to make the day go smoothly and wonderfully for B's sister.   
6. rejoicing in the births of new babies, and the anticipated arrivals of many others.  I would probably need three hands to be able to count the amount of couples we know who are expecting children between now and September.  


......and Blogger had an error while saving (probably because of my temperamental internet connection) and I basically lost 6-10.  RATS!  To be continued tomorrow, because I am not particularly wanting to re-type everything.  


For my own reference, 7-10 is:
7. already planning out our summer. 
8. anxiously awaiting the return of baseball.  
9. continuing to follow the political heatedness that has taken over our fair city.  
10. watching Taken!  


a presto, tutti, a presto :)

all souls' day.

Merciful Father, hear our prayer and console us

as we renew our faith in your Son, whom you raised from the dead.

Strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters

will share in His resurrection

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever. 

Amen. 

~ Collect of the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed

I have never quite "fully grasped" the meaning of this day in the Roman Catholic calendar.  I have the blessing (and privilege, for that matter) of having most of my extended family (and all of my immediate family) still in this life.  I can count the number of funerals I have attended in my life on my hands (around six), and the number of Catholic funerals I have attended on one hand (three) - and half of these total funerals were for friends and not family.  My husband shares with me frequently how wonderful it is to have my grandparents still alive, all four of them - it's our prayer to give them a great-grandchild before they depart this world for the next.  I guess you could say that I've never really "grasped" this day because death is an infrequent occurrence in my little sphere of the world. 

It is the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed today, or colloquially dubbed "All Souls' Day" in the Roman Catholic calendar.  The priest wears purple (or, sometimes, black), and the living faithful of Holy Mother Church are given a stark reminder of our own mortality and the necessity of praying for those who have gone before us, the faithful departed.  We light candles and reminisce and remember those we have loved in this life, who have seen the end of their lives.  And, most importantly, we pray for them - for the rescue of their souls from the clutches of purgatory, for our merciful and just God to grant them eternal rest.  

Tonight, as my husband and I pray our rosary on the way back from the east side of town, I will remember in the intentions of my heart the faithful departed, my brothers and sisters in Christ who have departed this world.  I will pray for the peaceful rest of their eternal souls and for the mercy of God and the intercession of Our Lady to come to their aid.  Most especially, I will keep close to my heart the soul of my father-in-law, who I was never able to meet in this life, but a man for whom I am so grateful.  

My husband lost his father at a particularly formative time in his life, just before going off to college.  We don't speak much of him, I must admit.  Every once in awhile, he'll come up in our conversation - I'll ask my husband what his father might think about the situation about which we're talking, or what his father was like in a certain circumstance, things like that.  His picture now hangs on one of the walls of our apartment - it is really a fantastic picture, his smile is just priceless, and it's as if that one smile, forever immortalized in picture form, gives me so many glimpses into this man's personality.

I never met this man, yet the first time I was with all of my in-laws (just about a year ago - we weren't engaged yet), I thought of him.  I glanced around the room, from person to person, sibling to sibling, grandchild to grandchild - and I kid you not, I was in awe.  This man, this man I never met, gave five beautiful souls to this world in his children, and subsequently, there are two more in this world - his grandchildren (and I pray that there are many more to come!).  I looked around the room and I could just sense that his legacy and his memory remain deeply embedded in the family.  And then there were times, particularly in some more tense and emotional moments, where I nearly wondered aloud why God had to take him so early from this life, why God had to take him, the patriarch, from this incredible family so soon.  Yet I trust that my father-in-law's life has in it some divine meaning for the family - I know already that his life and untimely passing has transformed my husband into the man he is today.  I am hopeful that God might give my husband and I another glimpse into His Divine Plan that surrounds my father-in-law, whether it be through our own family, our own vocation, or something entirely different.  

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them. 

Amen.