Being "Open to Life" - It's Not Always Easy

These are pictures of my family. This is the kind of "family gathering" I grew up with. I loved it! Let be known that in fact most of the people pictured are just my aunts, uncles, and 1st cousins. My mother is one of 13. Her parents pictured here in the first pic to the left (gramp in a white shirt and gram with one of my cousins on her lap) are responsible for bringing into this world 13 people, 13 souls. Twelve of which I knew personally and can attest to the fact that they are all good, decent, smart people.( My uncle eddie died at 19 and I never knew him) Not to mention just the simple FUN I had growing up amidst all this noise and laughter...

This is not to say that all of life for this family and its members was happy. It was not. There were many "rough spots".
My grandmother did not live an ideal life by this world's standards. She was poor,
unappreciated, over-worked, hurt, and
perpetually pregnant or nursing. But if
you asked her she'd
say she "had it all", "had it good". Where
did this kind of optimism come from?



Was she some kind of fool? No, not at all. In fact my grandmother was extremely smart, and well read. She was also extremely close to God. She loved her Church. She took the sacraments seriously. She loved the eucharist. How do I know these things? Because I saw it. Her attitude and her whole demeanor at mass and when involved with or attending a celebration of one of the sacraments was one that taught me volumes. She lived her faith, loved and respected priests, glowed and gushed over baptisms, 1st communions, weddings...You always knew that these things mattered a great deal to grandma. It wasn't just a "show" and some cards
stuffed with dollar bills.




There are a million questions I'd like to ask her now. But I suppose all I need to know is this:

In good times and bad times God is in control.
Loving others is all about sacrifice and sometimes it hurts.
God sees the good that we do and that is enough.
Life is difficult but keep on laughing and loving as best you can.





My mom was number eight. I am pregnant with number five. I am tired. I feel lonely sometimes. It's not easy. But, I think of gram. I think of my mother "waiting in the wings" for her turn to take up residence in the womb of this woman called Leona, her mom. It's a tough thing being "open to life". It's something they don't tell you at pre-Cana or at an NFP seminar. It's not all joy and laughter and bliss. But I thank God that I've learned the most important lesson about "being open to life" from a simple woman named Leona - It's WORTH it!

That's me in the second picture on the far left sitting on my aunt Mary's lap next to my cousin Philip. My big sis Kelly is just below me drinking from a paper cup.