Guerilla Romance

I wrote this note last week, but My Love didn't find it until today.

Autism Revisited

I see a lot of children with mental as well as physical handicaps in my line of work. These children - and their parents - invariably touch my heart as they remind me of Theodore and the many challenges and joys which came with having a special needs child. Theodore, who had autism and seizures, died in April, 2008 at the age of fifteen.

Recently, I have started talking more to parents about their unique role they have taking care of a special needs child. I try to encourage them, and praise them, because I recall how sweet it was to get a kind word, especially on days when Theodore was being difficult. The consolation from such comments was like receiving flowers from Heaven. Since it helped me so much when taking care of Theodore, I realized it was important to pass on the encouragement to those who still have children like Theodore.

After taking care of a child very much like Theodore this past week, I was shocked when my wife told me about this tragedy involving an autistic child. There is a Facebook page as well, for those who are interested.

I can imagine the kind of sorrow which this family is experiencing, and I know that more than anything they need our prayers during this time of sorrow. Please pray for them.

On a lighter note, here is one of the greatest consolations we have received over the past year. Join him as he eats pancakes for Sunday breakfast:

Final Drink of Kool-Aid

After getting an iMac and several iPods, the transition is complete; the Kool-Aid is consumed. My phone is iPhone.

Big Brothers

Bernard with some of his older brothers - as soon as I pulled out my camera, the big boys got serious.

Tractor Lust

Wondering about the moral implications of wanting another tractor....

Contemplative Diversion

Sometimes Rick Astley just doesn't cut it, and the musical soul yearns for something a bit more substantial:



Latin text:

Dominus dixit ad me:
Filius meus es tu,
ego hodie genui te.

Ps. Quare fremuerunt gentes:
et populi meditati sunt inania?

v/ Gloria Patri.



English translation:

The Lord hath said to me:
Thou art My Son,
this day have I begotten Thee.

Ps. Why have the Gentiles raged,
and the people devised vain things?

v/ Glory be to the Father.

Shark

The new car is called 'The Shark,' and is occupied by this hammerhead shark, better known by its scientific name 'Sphyrna beanibabius.'

A Reported Murmuring

While doing a bit of CME, I was directed to this website to listen to the continuous murmur heard with a PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus):

http://www.med.ucla.edu/wilkes/pdamain.htm

This noise is courtesy of this website:

http://www.med.ucla.edu/wilkes/inex.htm

Walrus in Modern Art

Seen in a local hospital. The simplicity of the images combined with a soothing green background show why walruses are perfect artwork for health care facilities.

Remembering 1972-1973

Back in 1972-1973, we lived in Switzerland on the outskirts of a village called Durnten. Bubikon was to our Southwest. On the map, Bubikonerstrasse used to go directly to Bubikon. Now it dead ends before it reaches Highway 53, which was in the planning stages when we were there. We lived right where Rothaustrasse intersects with Bubikonerstrasse.


View Larger Map

Bernard and the Walrus: 6 months

To show how Bernard has grown, I put the Default Picture Walrus in the picture with him. Bernard promptly tried to eat him.

Bernard at Six Months

I predict scooting within a month.

Birth Control T-Shirt

I saw this picture online. Someone sent it to me. Also of note, Catholic Dads has been labeled as a 'spam' blog for some reason. I sent a request to correct that....

Weekend Thoughts

I took the Armadillo for a shakedown cruise this afternoon. It had been running a bit rough lately, and I had some work done on it in anticipation of the drive to Mass in Greenville on Sunday. It was still acting up, so we would have to attend Mass closer to home.

The Big Blue, our 15-passenger van, is in the shop getting a fender replaced. THAT is a story I can't really tell, for Carolyn asked me to stop publishing vehicle strikes. That is too bad, because it is kind of fun describing how various creatures have a tendency to collide with our vehicles. Why, just last weekend, the same weekend the van got hit in a parking spot at Cha-Cho's, a bird struck the Armadillo at 65 miles per hour. There is nothing like the sound of a bird colliding with a car at high speed….

Back to the shakedown cruise. There I was, driving along with two of my daughters – the middle ones – listening to Paul Anka singing that that old Billy Idol song, “Eyes Without a Face.” It was just bizarre, yet it seemed to make sense, seeing as how Billy Idol recently made an album of Christmas favorites. Still, I can’t imagine old Billy singing ‘Ave Maria,’ complete with his permanent sneer. The song also seemed to fit in with a lot of the strange goings on from the past few days in North Texas.

To begin with, we got an interesting prayer card this week from the American Life League. At first I wanted to toss it, but then I got to thinking. Impeachment is highly unlikely - recall the last time we tried to impeach the president, and wishing ill of someone is not charitable. So it makes a lot of sense to pray for our president's conversion. Another reason to pray for the conversion of our president is because real charity is willing the ultimate good for another, and the ultimate good is to go to heaven. Consider that the executioner of St. Charles Lwanga(above, with companions) later converted to the Faith. Consider how St. Paul goes from being a hunter of Christians to being one of the greatest Saints. Also contemplate this quote from St. Thomas More, where he expresses a desire to see his persecutors in Heaven with him one day:

"More have I not to say but like as the blessed Apostle St. Paul, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, was present, and consented to the death of St. Stephen, and kept their clothes that stoned him to death, and yet be they now both twain holy saints in heaven, and shall continue there friends for ever, so I verily trust and shall therefore right heartily pray, that though your Lordships have now in earth been judges to my condemnation, we may yet hereafter in heaven merrily all meet together to our everlasting salvation."

St. Thomas More

I wish I could pray this same prayer. Some day, I hope, but not today.

So pray for our president's conversion. Pray if only for yourselves, for I think he is going to put the hurt on the things I care about the most: Pro-Life issues, family, freedom of conscience for physicians, home schooling, just to name a few in no particular order. Now, if I can get my scanner to work, here are both sides of the prayer card, courtesy of the American Life League:







Here is someone else praying for this....

This was only one of many strange things which happened this weekend. Right after receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion, while trying to kneel and pray on the floor of a cramped and sweltering chapel, my three year old daughter came up to me and asked if I could 'do this.' She then proceeded to twist her tongue and stick it out at me. "After Mass," I assured her.

Last night I watched the movie Persuasion, based on a story by Jane Austen. Simply put, a woman is advised to dump a suitor against her wishes, meets him years later, and they marry at that time. The movie was quite good, but like all Jane Austen movies, the main characters looked as if they had just ingested a bolus of helicobacter pylori shortly before the filming began. Every woman in the movie needed a bit of Maalox.

Apparently, in the time period when Persuasion takes place, military folks were not thought of well, because the military was thought of as a way for ordinary folks to rise up in society. I don't know about status or royalty, but my time in the Air Force was a tremendous blessing in terms of helping me realize my dream of becoming a doctor without taking on a prohibitively large debt. Although we are not part of the elite of North Texas, we do have a roof over our head, clothes on our backs, food in the fridge, and only TWO junked lawn tractors in the driveway!

While waiting for the Armadillo in the shop, we learned about Triple Combo Cooking Power and what it will mean to the busy homemaker. We watched a T-bone steak, salmon fillet, a 10-pound turkey, and much MUCH MORE! get cooked in minutes rather than hours.

I ordered three.

Two things struck me at the local Albertson's. One, when did camouflage pattern become fashionable? The same color scheme I thought I would be wearing when I died for my country is now covering people of all ages and sexes.

The second thing is that a lot of music from the 70' and 80's consisted of the lead singer yelling at us. In the few minutes I was in the store, I heard Michael McDonald(formerly of the Doobie Brothers) yelling at me about 'real love,' followed by the Electric Light Orchestra(E.L.O.) screaming about something being a 'living thing.'

I have no answer to these questions, but I do have pictures of little birdies learning to fly. These two were sitting on our front porch checking out the big wild world:

Hat tip to Mark Shea:

The Cross

"The measure of our courage in carrying the cross is the measure of our love." - St. Teresa of Avila

20th Anniversary Photo Collection

July 1, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our marriage. God has blessed us in so many ways over the years, and I thought a few pictures would be nice to put on the blog.

1989. Here we are saying our vows. The color is due to the natural light rather than a flash during the wedding:

1990. Our oldest son, Dominick, came along in April:


1991. The following year brought us our first daughter, Bernadette. She looks very serious in the picture:


1992 is the year we were blessed with Theodore. He slept through the shoot while I had to hold Dominick:


1993. Nathaniel arrived right before the end of 1993. I recall going to the department 'Holiday' party a few days earlier, and everyone kept grabbing Carolyn's belly. It just drove me nuts - I would never do that to someone else's wife! Note a recurrent theme in this picture: sleeping baby and squirming older brother.



1995. Augustine was born in March of that year. Dominick and Theodore were just doing their own thing when this picture was taken. Theodore had a red ball in his hand that we could not get away from him.



1996. San Antonio, Texas. Benedict was just a few months old when we moved to Texas. This was our almost last time getting our picture done at one of those 'studios.'


1997. After four boys in a row, Genevieve joined us in June. She was the first Texas Native, the first Air Force baby(at least on while we were on active duty), and our largest baby to date. The Air Force didn't believe in inducing labor, so she was born on her due date at 11#, 4 oz. No obstetrician has let Carolyn go full term since. Here Genevieve is giving a big Texas Howdy! to all the folks:

1998/1999. This picture is either really late 1998 or early 1999, because Jacinta was born in December of 1998. Also, there is no way we would be wearing jackets in the summer in San Antonio.



1999. One day after our 10th anniversary, we lost our first child when Carolyn had a miscarriage at about two months. We named our little one Anastasia Innocent. This was a painful lesson in realizing just how much our children are a gift from God, whether we have them for years on Earth or just a picture on an ultrasound.

Several months later, our parish started to put together a directory with family photographs. On summer evening we posed for this picture in a sweltering office. The photographer later disappeared with all the money he had collected, leaving just proofs behind. Some of the children were noticeably wilting in the photo:



2000/2001. January, 2001 shows that we learned our lesson, and we now take all family pictures during the cooler Texas months. No more August photo shoots. Cornelius was born in August, 2000. He was the first complete 'civilian' child we had, as I had separated from the Air Force in July, 2000.

2001. September 9, 2001, Marcellinus was born, and he came home on 9/11.



2003. In 2002, we moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. One of our wildest adventures in this neck of the woods was building a house. Here we are posing in front of it with our first Dallas child, Maximilian:




2005. You can barely tell we are posing around one of our tractors in this picture. Our youngest daughter, ZelieLouisa is sitting on Carolyn's lap. Note the brown grass - that is what happens when it doesn't rain for months.



2006. Note the boys are getting bigger in each picture. Our numbers have not grown, despite our prayers for more children.



2007. Once again, the joy of a new life became sadness as we lost another child at just a few weeks after conception. This year we posed by our picture of Divine Mercy, and we took consolation in the prayer which ends with the words "....Your Will, which is love and mercy itself."


2008. In the picture above, Theodore stood by the picture of Divine Mercy, with his head inclined toward it. Theodore died suddenly on April 3, 2008. In the picture below, we included his portrait as a reminder of how much he remains in our hearts.

2009. This photo montage helps explain why for years the customary greeting I would hear was, "how are you? Is Carolyn pregnant?" It appeared that those days were over, but God smiled on us again, and in January of 2009 we were blessed with another son, Bernard. He is a blessing to all of us, and here he is braving the 100+ heat in San Antonio last weekend:

Our life together has been blessed beyond our comprehension with our children and friends, and most importantly our Faith. We have tried to do the Will of God in our marriage, and in particular we have been open to life since the the beginning. Over the years, rather than wishing for this part of our lives to end, we find ourselves praying and begging God for more children. Our children are the only gifts we have on Earth that can follow us to Heaven, and we intend to see all of our children there one day.

I recall a comment from a book on marriage which has stuck with me for years. It said that choosing a good spouse would bring a bit of Heaven into the marriage. I have been blessed with my wife Carolyn. She is my best friend, and she is motivated by the desire to see her husband and all of her children get to Heaven. It helps that she loves God so much, for I can be difficult at times. I thank God for my wife, and I thank Carolyn every day for saying 'I do' to me twenty years ago.

UPDATE, DECEMBER 30, 2009!

LATEST FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH:

Front Row: Genevieve(12) holding Bernard(11 months), Marcellinus(8), Cornelius(9), and Maximilian(6)
Middle Row: Carolyn(young), ZelieLouisa(4) held by Bernadette(18), Benedict(13), Jacinta(11), Stephen(old)
Back Row: Augustine(14), Nathaniel(16 today, 12.30.2009!), Dominick(19)

UPDATE: HERE IS OUR VIDEO COMMEMORATING OUR 21ST ANNIVERSARY:



ANOTHER UPDATE: A PICTURE FROM CHRISTMAS, 2010:
...and for good measure, here is a picture of Carolyn and I from over the Summer. Carolyn is so beautiful, and I am so blessed to be her husband.






YET ANOTHER UPDATE:  Here is our latest picture from January, 2013.  Note that the children are getting bigger while we seem to be shrinking.  Also, the photographer neatly arranged it so the Native Texans are all in the front row, while the 'Northerners' are in the back.  Actually, since I was born in California I should be in a row all by myself.

Back Row, Left to Right:  Nathaniel (19), Augustine (18), Carolyn, Stephen, Dominick (22), Bernadette (21), and Benedict (16)

Front Row (The Native Texans): Marcellinus (11), Genevieve (15), Maximilian (10), Bernard (4), ZelieLouisa (7), Jacinta (14), and Cornelius (12)  

Prayer for Priests in this Year of the Priest

Dear Lord,
we pray that the Blessed Mother
wrap her mantle around Your priests
and through her intercession
strengthen them for their ministry.

We pray that Mary will guide Your priests
to follow her own words,
"Do whatever He tells you."

May Your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary's most chaste spouse.
May the Blessed Mother's own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer
at the foot of the cross.

May Your priests be holy,
filled with the fire of Your love,
seeking nothing but Your greater glory
and the salvation of souls.

Amen.

Volition

Aardvark Update

The Aardvark started the celebration for 190,000 miles a bit early, with a mysterious 'Check Engine' light appearing on the dashboard.

Contingency

Hot blowing wind on a Saturday afternoon
with a bit too much gasoline in the air
I stopped, clearing dirt and grass off the radiator housing
(otherwise the Yamaha engine dies in the far end of the field)
distracted by a glimmer of reflected sunlight
made by gasoline spraying over the muffler
like Asperges only evaporating faster
I did the math, realizing one last leg of the triangle - oxygen, fuel source, spark -
was all that kept me from taking up long term residency at Parkland, complete with debridements, duodenal feeding tubes
and the burning technical question whether Precedex ever replaced ketamine

Birthday Thoughts

Today my second-oldest daughter turns 12 years old, and although I am presently crashing a wedding recwption, my thoughts and prayers are with her. God bless you, sweetheart!

Where is the Sacrifice?

Where is the sacrifice when the menu for tonight's dinner consists of:

Grilled salmon
Grilled Mahi-Mahi Tuna
Grilled yellow squash from our own garden
Homemade macaroni and cheese(for those who do not eat fish)
Fresh fruit

Don't get me wrong. I love meat, especially chicken and beef, and barbecue is one of those things which is done best in Texas. But grilled seafood is what made me realize that there is more to life than tuna fish and fish sticks. Recall that I am still observing a vow which I included in this posting.

For a picture of grilled Mahi-Mahi, look here.

Skyline Drive, Northern Virginia, September 2008.

Squash Anyone

After torrential rains here in North Texas, we harvested a bunch of squash, a few peas(they seem to be dying out), and thinned the carrots and scallions. Praise God for the gifts from the garden of Texas delights!

Garden harvest

I picked some peas, beans, and thinned the carrots this evening. There will be some yellow squash and zucchini ready for picking later this week.