Where credit is due

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

 Patrick called home yesterday. It was our first chance to talk after his return from Monday's March for Life in Washington, D.C.  He had a great trip.

So much so that he wasn't even all that disappointed to hear that our next home will likely be in the D.C. area. This  is not definite by any stretch of the imagination; we are just running out of time on other options, and John hasn't heard from anyplace-yet. But as much as that is always on my mind, it isn't the subject of this post, so...

Notre Dame, Patrick reported, took seven busloads of students and faculty to the march.  Seven!  He had a chance to see an old Misawa friend one day there. He visited museums, prayed at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, and stopped by to see my brother and his wife, who are "dorm parents" in the honors dorm on the Catholic University of America campus. He spent most of the weekend with a couple of guys from his architecture program, and the three of them also dropped by the arkie studio while they were on the CUA campus to meet their competition compatriots.

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

The next day they and more than 300 others from Notre Dame joined the March for Life.

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

This article gives more details. If their information is correct, Notre Dame had more people there than any other college or university. To be fair, we're not talking about percentages. Christendom College, of Front Royal, VA, would win that contest. They cancel classes and bring their entire student body every year. But when you consider that the Notre Dame trip involves getting excused from classes, taking two overnight bus rides and sleeping in a parish hall,

Photo credit: Notre Dame Right to Life

it's pretty impressive to see such a large number from ND.  I'm grateful to the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture Fund to Protect Human Life for making this possible for Patrick and so many other ND students.

The administration gets a lot wrong with regard to being a Catholic beacon in our dark culture, but the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture is making sure that on the issue of life, they are getting things very right.

Deo gratias.

Apology and an update

I am sorry I haven't posted anything since Holy Saturday. Here's a quick update in words only because for some reason, I can't work with the photos on the laptop right now. Not sure what's going on there, but I will have to wait until my network administrator John can take a look at it this evening.

John: getting called in to work after hours a bit, but enjoying his work; at home: clearing out our garage We can park both vans in there again. (woo hoo!!!)

Judy: filled 30 bags during Lent with Katie, Patrick and John's help, working on 10 more in the Easter season. John's garage cleaning will be the biggest contributor there. :); co-directing 4 scenes (plus a little more) of Hamlet for the homeschool drama club; dealing with cold after cold in various family members since mid-March; working on getting the little ones truly healthy again; keeping my head above water--barely--with teaching, grading, turning in grades, for our homeschool; a couple of Japanese grocery-shopping successes to relate soon

Patrick: enjoying senior year; soccer season--playing mostly mid-field; prom coming up this weekend; finished his last scholarship application; waiting for Notre Dame to send him their financial aid offer; college decision d eadline is May 1

Katie: is 13!--photos of the party forthcoming; mother's help for a neighbor with a new baby and babysitting; soccer: first game was Saturday, they lost but she played well; playing Claudius in Hamlet; having fun with friends

Joseph: swim lessons continue; first soccer game was this weekend, he was playing forward when I saw him after giving the half-time treats to Katie's team and arranging with her coach to give out the after-game treats so I could see a little of Joseph's game before it ended and we hurried back to pick up Katie; playing Osric in Hamlet; honored to be chosen to serve Mass for Archbishop Broglio when he is at St. Jude's (the on-base chapel) for Confirmation in a few weeks

Matthew: has double pneumonia, if that's what they call it when it's in both lungs; it set off an asthma reaction--his first since November, and typical of his version of asthma that appears when he contracts another respiratory illness in the spring or fall; playing a guard in Hamlet; making up plays every day and begging others to be in them, today it is something about pirates--he made a flag for a prop a little earlier and is wearing a large white shirt, rolled up pants with a sword tucked into the belt, and a purple head scarf; Meghan is involved somehow, too.

Meghan: also has pneumonia, but only in one lung; we are grateful to God for the invention of antibiotics, which are resolving these health issues quickly; the pneumonia battle has only been a week for Meghan and 5 days for Matthew; both are much improved; enough to be working on a pirate play, anyway ;)

Tommy: UDallas production of P layboy of the Western World, in which he played one of the main characters: the father of Pegeen (the female character who gets engaged to the p layboy), went very well: awesome set, authentic, period top-hat for his costume; I'm hoping to post photos if we can have permission; classes are going well, he is especially enjoying Chinese history; wedding plans are progressing--hard to believe that is only three and a half months away now.

Tara: tired, but classes are going okay, Tommy tells us; in set-design class, they are working together on the design for someone's senior studio play, which sounds like a fun thing to do; I love that they share a passion for the arts.

Meghan is calling "Yunch-time. I hear it: bell. Yunch-time!!" I am needed in the kitchen.

I promise to write more regularly and get the photo problem fixed so I can add in some pictures.

Hope all is well in your parts of the world. :) Please comment and let us know.