Month: July 2020
Mom’s Old Neighborhood
Today, my cousin, Lisa, and I went on an adventure to find our parents, Carolyn Mary and Hank Lariccia, family home in East Orange, New Jersey. Their cousin, Joannie Maly, had told me it was near the corner of North Park and Dodd Street. We arrived at the corner, andRead More
Mom-Gates of Heaven Cemetary
Today was an emotional and moving day. I took some of my mother’s ashes to the gravesite of her parents, Henry & Elizabeth Lariccia. While there, we also found her grandparents, Frank and Mary Monica Bennetto. Frank would be the gentleman with the giant mustache in the 1907 picture belowRead More
Birthday to New Jersey
For my 50th birthday, I strapped on a backpack and headed to Italy. On the next one, I pulled the buckles with a tandem jumper and hopped out of an airplane. At 52, I saddled myself with a new house and a mortgage. Today on 53, I pulled up aRead More
Angels’ Wings Psalm 91:11-12
I have been listening to the book, INTO THE LIGHT, by Dr. John Lerma. He was a palliative care doctor who worked in hospice throughout the 1980s and early 90s, who wrote about the experiences of his dying patients. I’m not sure how much this is helping with my grief.Read More
Memories Revelation 1:8
I am out for my ride today, but I did not bike this far today. From where I sit, the Cathedral is still a 30-minute ride from me, if I could bike as fast as Maps thinks I should. The fact that I am so far from a spot IRead More
The Full Extent of His Love John 13:1b
I am finally out for my morning rides. Geez, it is already past mid-July, and I’ve only taken Black Beauty out for a spin one other time this summer. With COVID-19, I got used to being home and sleeping late. Then with my mother dying, I’ve been focused on otherRead More
Mom’s Eulogy
Carolyn Mary’s full celebration can be watched here: https://www.facebook.com/maranatha.chisago/videos/717351012382851 At first, when I sat to write this, I had just a bunch of random thoughts in my head. Memories and funny stories, things my mother had told me. It all seemed like a hodge-podge of various quotes and stories, andRead More
I’ll Be Seeing You**
Interesting mom story…Yesterday I was thinking about my mom and wrote a post, in which, I asked her to reach out to me. If you missed it, it’s here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=370272833951494&id=100029063405467 These were the words of my request, “It’s been more than a week now, mom, and I do miss you.Read More
Miss You, Mom
Grief is a funny thing. Most times, when I cry about the death of my mother, I’m not crying because I miss her. I most certainly miss her, but what gets the tears to flow are thoughts for and about her. Like, did she know what was happening as itRead More