Responsible
So when you are raising kids, you wonder constantly if you are doing the right things and you know you are not a perfect parent, especially if you are Irish Catholic and live on the guilt factor. You see your children do things that you wouldn't have or didn't or did do, and wish they wouldn't or would. You try to step back and realize you lived your life and now they must live theirs, even if it isn't according to you.
Then all of a sudden you start to see blooms and blossoms. You kind of sense them along the way, but once in awhile you get a good glimpse because all is well and there are no chaotic catastrophies on the forefront........
It is Sunday morning and I am headed to mass to give out the eucharist. After mass, I am assigned to homebound and I choose the place where Brendan works. I do not think I can see him because his ward is kind of secure due to the dementia of patients, but I do give out the eucharist to two elderly people. It is sad. One is supposed to be a couple, but when I ask if the wife would like to receive also, the husband tells me that she has been in the hospital for three weeks. He talks of her as if she is a friend who went to one hospital for one week, then transferred and then is up the road. This is his life long love.....I see their wedding photo on the wall....I tell him it is a beautiful picture and he tells me the year they were married. Then I visit another woman in her apartment and she can barely talk. She has an aid sitting there who looks very bored and probably does not enjoy her job of babysitting. I leave there and want desperately to go up the elevator to say hi to Brendan and tell him how impressed I am that he can come here sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes for 12 hours at a time and be a smile for these people who are in the last leg of their lives. He tells us stories sometimes of conversations with patients and I am reminded of Brendan's life long ability to be patient with others. I always thought he would end up working with children, but maybe in a sense, he is (children at the other end). I texted him to tell him that he is a special kind of person who would be able to handle this and do it with a smile. Maybe he has found his calling; I just hope it has enough in it for him.
I decide to stop in and see my other boy, Connor, at his work place. It is a totally different setting. It is a privately owned bakery, where profit is the key. I am amazed at the ability of these (mostly kids and young adults) who work non stop in this well known bakery from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. every weekend. I believe Connor is well appreciated at this bakery because of his qualities of hard work and determination. Not only does he tell stories of what he is given to do and how he does it, but people have told us of his mannerisms in dealing with the public. I knew he was off to a good start when a year ago I found a sheet up on the computer that listed everything he had to do in the morning there from 5 a.m. until closing. The heat was unbearable in that bakery, but they work on. I know this won't be his calling, but maybe a start to owning his own business or working with people in a different way.
I think of my third child, who is not at home either right now. Katie is working at a farm and she is so cute about it. She gets up and picks blueberries from 9-12 and then works in the store from 12-6. It is a small farm that has few workers, but perfect for her. She received her first pay this week; what a great feeling. She just started so more to come on this one.
As I drive home and think about what Keera will become or how she will "turn out" (and she is way different in some ways than these three), I realize that all that worry and concern (though necessary), doesn't really matter in the end because if you live how you want your children to live, they will follow suit as much as they can and then they will blossom into what they will be on their own. I am very proud of who they are already and I have years left to see what they will add.
Then all of a sudden you start to see blooms and blossoms. You kind of sense them along the way, but once in awhile you get a good glimpse because all is well and there are no chaotic catastrophies on the forefront........
It is Sunday morning and I am headed to mass to give out the eucharist. After mass, I am assigned to homebound and I choose the place where Brendan works. I do not think I can see him because his ward is kind of secure due to the dementia of patients, but I do give out the eucharist to two elderly people. It is sad. One is supposed to be a couple, but when I ask if the wife would like to receive also, the husband tells me that she has been in the hospital for three weeks. He talks of her as if she is a friend who went to one hospital for one week, then transferred and then is up the road. This is his life long love.....I see their wedding photo on the wall....I tell him it is a beautiful picture and he tells me the year they were married. Then I visit another woman in her apartment and she can barely talk. She has an aid sitting there who looks very bored and probably does not enjoy her job of babysitting. I leave there and want desperately to go up the elevator to say hi to Brendan and tell him how impressed I am that he can come here sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes for 12 hours at a time and be a smile for these people who are in the last leg of their lives. He tells us stories sometimes of conversations with patients and I am reminded of Brendan's life long ability to be patient with others. I always thought he would end up working with children, but maybe in a sense, he is (children at the other end). I texted him to tell him that he is a special kind of person who would be able to handle this and do it with a smile. Maybe he has found his calling; I just hope it has enough in it for him.
I decide to stop in and see my other boy, Connor, at his work place. It is a totally different setting. It is a privately owned bakery, where profit is the key. I am amazed at the ability of these (mostly kids and young adults) who work non stop in this well known bakery from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. every weekend. I believe Connor is well appreciated at this bakery because of his qualities of hard work and determination. Not only does he tell stories of what he is given to do and how he does it, but people have told us of his mannerisms in dealing with the public. I knew he was off to a good start when a year ago I found a sheet up on the computer that listed everything he had to do in the morning there from 5 a.m. until closing. The heat was unbearable in that bakery, but they work on. I know this won't be his calling, but maybe a start to owning his own business or working with people in a different way.
I think of my third child, who is not at home either right now. Katie is working at a farm and she is so cute about it. She gets up and picks blueberries from 9-12 and then works in the store from 12-6. It is a small farm that has few workers, but perfect for her. She received her first pay this week; what a great feeling. She just started so more to come on this one.
As I drive home and think about what Keera will become or how she will "turn out" (and she is way different in some ways than these three), I realize that all that worry and concern (though necessary), doesn't really matter in the end because if you live how you want your children to live, they will follow suit as much as they can and then they will blossom into what they will be on their own. I am very proud of who they are already and I have years left to see what they will add.
Comments
Post a Comment