Earlier this week, I mentioned on social media that I was going to make a big announcement today. I gave two clues: Man does not live by bread alone. It’s something you’ll love to hear. Did you try to guess? Read more
They say that launching a book is much like giving birth to a child. If that’s the case, I’m on my fifteenth baby! Yet, with the pains of labor come the joys of the child itself, who grows to bless the world in his or her own way. So, I pray that this new baby of mine – My Queen, My Mother: A Living Novena – will grow and bless the world.
Deep inside, though, I was losing hope. The progress was slow, stretching on for weeks with one step forward and two steps backward the whole way. The weeks went by and I struggled to be optimistic. I felt as though my life would never be normal again.
How do we tell the difference between the real scammers and the people in real need?
It didn’t help that nothing was normal for me. My routines were shattered, and I couldn’t do things the way I was used to doing them. I needed to sleep downstairs in the recliner while the others slept upstairs and I hated it. I often would stay awake most of the night praying rosary after rosary after chaplet after chaplet for anybody who came to mind – anyone but me because it made me too sad to pray for myself.
I really think Anne was far better at encouraging me than I was at encouraging her. What started as my way of helping Anne ended up as Anne’s way of helping me and it was astonishing to see this normally-reserved woman blossom into a witty, wise, perceptive and insightful individual. It was a side of Anne I’d never seen before. What a gift.