It's a very special Mother's Day here in the US for me and my family, considering a week ago we were praying Our Lord would not call her home quite yet.
Mom is making pretty good progress and it appears the bleeding has at least slowed - something we believe is the work of a very heavy antacid. They were never able to pinpoint the exact area, but doctors have been convinced it is somewhere in the small intestine. It has started and stopped so many times before, but never has it gone on for more than a few days. She was released the other day and seems to be getting along ok here in my home. She also managed to make it to a dinner at the Polish Century Club, to which my brother-in-law belongs. He had gotten tickets for the buffet back a couple months ago and we were all looking forward to getting together for a holiday meal.
As a family, were not able to do this for a long time. My only sister, who is 11 years older than me and diabetic, had surgery to remove cancer back on Halloween - October 31, 2006. She was cleared of cancer which was caught early, only to end up with a badly infected wound in the adjacent tissue. That wound had to remain open, and still remains open today. It was only about 3 or 4 weeks ago that she was finally able to venture outside the home to go somewhere other than the doctor's office or special wound-care center. She was connected to something new called a, "wound vac". It pulls fluids out of deep wounds to promote healing and prevent infection. She was connected to the thing for many, many months. She had to take it with her everywhere she went and it "burped" - often a humiliating experience. Her resistance was low too and she kept catching other infections so it was best she stayed home anyway. Once this tube was pulled, she was free to move around more, but still could not visit my mother the whole time it she was hospitalized for fear she'd pick something else up.
Needless to say, our dinner together was a joyous family event - one we did not thing was going to happen just a week ago.
MAY CROWNING AT ASSUMPTION GROTTO
My participation with my family today meant I could not stay at Assumption Grotto for the May crowning, or the Fatima devotions. It crushed me to have to leave as Mass ended and the procession got underway so I merely offered it up on my way down Gratiot - in thanksgiving for the grace of life extended in our family. I do regret that I cannot bring you photos of the day because here in Southeast Michigan, we were truly blessed with the most beautiful of days which only added to the beauty of May crowning of Mary. There was not a cloud in the sky and the temp was a balmy 65F (18.3C).
Today was the day that many children at Assumption Grotto made their First Holy Communion. I'm not sure the exact number, but it appeared to be an equal number of boys and girls. It's always a joy to watch them approach the rail for the very first time.
If anyone did get photos, email them to me and I'll post them.
The homily by our pastor was classic Fr. Perrone. I hope to bring it to you in the coming days with another that I've been promised will reach the web. Look for them both soon.