My big day

Well, I will be out of touch for a few days. Family and friends will be posting here with updates while I’m out of commission.

It started raining this evening. That seems like a good sign. We need rain so badly.

I feel that I should make some deeply profound statement but I’m at a bit of a loss for that at the moment. One thought does keep coming to mind. Keeping with my original vow to post what I’m thinking no matter how cloying it might be, I’ll go ahead with this now.

I have some things that I carry with me every day.

One is a small rectangular piece of muslin with a pattern embroidered on it. It’s a good luck charm that my sister Pat made for me. It’s made from muslin that belonged to my grandmother and the design comes from a book on Appalachian folk magic that she bought when we were visiting my uncle one time. She made it for me as a good luck charm when I interviewed for the job I now have.

I also carry a polished square piece of tiger eye that Sue bought for me this fall. It has an inner shimmering pattern that I find fascinating. She knew exactly the sort of thing that would capture my attention.

Just today I received a green stone that Marlene picked up on Iona. That was where the Book of Kells was created before it was taken to Ireland. It makes me think of my family’s history in Ireland and elsewhere.

The last is a silver rosary came from Jim years ago. He brought it for me from a trip to Mexico. I have been using it regularly – quite regularly recently. Strangely, I lost the rosary some time in the middle of the day today. Well, it has gotten me through a lot lately. I still suspect that it will turn up somewhere.

To me, these things symbolize my faith, my friends, and my family - both those I have now and all those who have gone before me. These are the things that have always sustained me.

I’d also like to take a line to thank all of you for your blog comments, cards, presents and phone calls. I’m very sorry for not getting back to everyone. It has been a frantic run these last few weeks. Each of these things has meant a lot to me. The list is happily too long to put down here. Besides, to mention anyone is also to omit someone and I don’t want to risk that.

I’ll finish this up with a line from the Bible. I try not to quote from the Bible because I’ve noticed that people who do are often just trying to impress others. But this line struck me one time when they read it in church and it sticks with me now. It’s from the letter of Paul to the Philippians (Philippians 1:3) and captures well enough what I’d like to say now. Paul says simply, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”

I’m looking forward to seeing/talking to/emailing you all soon!