Gone to Heaven

She had a stroke and ended up in the hospital. She was flown by helicopter to Swedish Hospital. I visited her a few times and she was always surrounded by her family. The first time was at the hospital located about 45 minutes away from Arvada. She sat in a wheel chair with her head drooping down to her chest. A pillow was used to prop her up. She was moved from Swedish to a rehab place in Northglenn right across the street from Immaculate Heart of Mary church. This visit I found her to be perky, looked great in black pajamas with bright pink stripes and she  looked normal; laughing and talking and I believed she would be going home fairly soon.

She went to the Center at Northridge for rehab and I got a text that she had been readmitted to the hospital, North Suburban, because of a headache.  After a brief stay in the hospital she returned to The Center at Northridge Rehab and both times I visited her she seemed fine. One time she was watching the Bronco game with her family and planning to celebrate Christmas with her family in one of the rooms at the rehab place. She was doing great and I thought for sure she would be home for New Years.

A text letting me know she was back in the hospital made me sad. The report was that she was not talking and refusing to eat. On December 31, 2019, I took 54 persons to Blackhawk to gamble and we prayed for her on the bus. On January 3, 2020, a friend and I visited her and she said "okay" and "bye."  I visited her one more time and when I spoke to her she raised her eyebrows or opened her eyes wide so I knew she was hearing me. Reports I would get were that she was not doing well.
My last visit I sat and held her arm but she was quiet. As I was leaving she mouthed, "thank you," or that is what we thought.

She was  released from the hospital to go home and after a few days, on January 25, 2020, she passed away. Makes one know how fragile our lives are and how we never know when our time on earth will end. A beautiful family has lost the matriarch of the family. She and her husband had been married for 68 years and it was nice seeing them together because there was so much love between them and their family. People remarked how close the family was and how they did everything together. The father, mother, son, his wife and daughter traveled together, gambled together and ate together.

Her husband told me that when she received the Sacrament of Healing, that it was peaceful and beautiful and even though she had not been moving, she tried to raise her arm to make the sign of the cross. 

Rest in Peace, beautiful lady.

Viewing and Rosary will be on Sunday, February 2, 2020 and mass will be at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, February 3, 2020 at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community.

"There are far, far 

better things ahead,

than any we leave behind."

C.S. Lewis

February 2, 2020: A beautiful viewing, outstanding hymns, tearful eulogies by grandchildren and one daughter, the rosary lead by a Deacon, and a final goodbye.  To see the family in their Bronco shirts gathered around the casket, hugging each other as they said goodbye to a wife, mother, and grandmother was touching and moving.

A Trip To The Mountains

Last year, the Young At Heart Group of Spirit of Christ Catholic Community had plans to travel to Breckenridge, Colorado, see the snow sculptures, but on the day we were supposed to go there was a snow storm and the trip was cancelled. This year we were able to go and about fifty five persons boarded an Ace Express Bus for the one hour and a half trip to Breckenridge. The bus was comfortable and the bus driver had a lot of experience so it was a pleasant trip.

Everyone looked different all bundled up with boots, puffy jackets, scarfs, wool caps and sun glasses. In fact, most were unrecognizable! We were dropped off near the entrance of the sculptures and began looking at the marvelous statues carved by artists out of blocks of snow. Amazing what artists can do as they carve out animals, people or interesting, creative figures from the snow!

This year, 2020, is the 30th anniversary of the sculptures. Rumors were floating around that this year would be the last sculpturing event to be held in Breckenridge. I looked up the information on the Internet and found out that instead of having many pieces, the plan is to have one giant sculpture using many artists from around the world. Now that should be interesting!

I also found out that there were sixteen teams working on the twenty-ton blocks of snow this year. No power tools are allowed and only hand tools can be used to make the sculptures. First place was won by Mexico with their sculpture of "Greed." Second place was "Nice to Meet You" of two dogs sniffing each other by Great Britain.  Wisconsin's "Duality of the Soul," took third place. India won the Artist Choice award for "Triumph Over Evil," and France won the People's Choice award for "Twister."

With snow hitting my face like tiny needles and a coldness on my skin where it wasn't covered,
I moved from sculpture to sculpture taking pictures. My hands would get cold when I removed my mittens so I tried to kept my mittens on most of the time. Different groups left the sculpture area and walked a block to Main street where there were many souvenir stores and places to eat.

The group I was with ended up at a restaurant called Kenosha and some of us ate delicious hamburgers though there were many other things on the menu. Every once in a while the doors to the restaurant would open and in would enter some of our group coming in to eat. Later, I heard reports of the many wonderful restaurants other people found to eat.

When it became too cold out side, there was a huge auditorium called the "thawing room" and we could sit and watch a movie about Breckenridge and the sculptures while we warmed our cold bodies!

When the bus arrived, we loaded up and even though it was snowing in Breckenridge once we made it over Vail pass the road was dry and clear. The two ladies who planned the trip made the bus ride  fun with jokes being told and a money game played. Talking to our seat partners helped to pass the time and before we knew it, we were in the Spirit of Christ Catholic Community parking lot! A fun and interesting day and as far as I could tell everyone seemed to enjoy our trip to the mountains.

"A block of snow,

in the right hands

becomes a work 

of art!"

E. Moscoso

One Hundred And Sixty Three Years

Two babies were born in 1938; one in Greeley and the other one in Trinidad, Colorado. Looking through the Internet I was amazed and shocked at all that was going on that year other than the two babies being born!

Price of a new car was $763, homes cost $3,900, wages equaled $1,730 per year, gas was ten cents a gallon, a pound of hamburger was thirteen cents and bread was ten cents a loaf. There were 1,892 movies that year and some of the stars were: Tyrone Power (I always thought he was so handsome!), Betty Davis, James Stewart, Errol Flynn, Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, George Raft (my mother's favorite actor), Ginger Rogers, Humphrey Bogart, Groucho Marx, Cary Grant, and Micky Rooney. Los Angeles had a huge flood, in horse racing Seabiscuit beat War Admiral, March of Dimes was created, seeing eye dogs were used for the first time, Superman was introduced and Nazi Germany escalated war efforts.

The two babies had no idea what was going on but around 1950 all the grade schools merged into Meeker Junior High School. The two 1938 babies met for the first time and became friends. They were in sports together playing intramural volley ball, basket ball, and softball. They competed in typing speeds and one would win one week and the other one would win the following week; back and forth went their friendly rivalry. They lived one street over from each other, one on eighth street and the other on ninth street. They were both Prefects of Our Blessed Lady Sodality, they sang in Our Lady of Peace choir, they played hooky from school, (not much, maybe twice!), worked together in a laundry folding sheets as they came off the hot mangle iron and were the two flower girls at a friend's wedding. They performed a parody of a song, I had written, on the stage of the Chief Theater.

We drank Green Rivers at the bowling alley, ate a pint of White House Ice Cream each, and danced at the State Armory in Greeley. We both ran for Queen of the Valentine's Day Dance and she crowned me when I won. I was lucky enough to win because my partner knew how to waltz! We rode in the back of a truck as we went on picnics to the mountains, we attended catechism classes and ate dill pickles  and sunflower seeds, we were in Pep Purrs and wore our white sweaters with a Wildcat on our chest, saddle shoes, Bobbie socks and black skirts. I remember getting up at five in the morning to practice marching with the band before classes began. We sometimes were mistaken for each other though we really didn't look alike, or maybe we did!

We would stand on the corner and talk like there was no tomorrow even though we had been together most of the day. Then one day she fell in love and got married.  I was a bridesmaid at her wedding and presented her with a large statue of the Blessed Mother.

 I moved to Denver,  worked and attended Regis College evening classes. Eventually I got married and she came to my wedding.  I had two children, and my marriage lasted six years. I traveled and she and her husband raised their seven children; six girls and one boy.

They owned a restaurant called Marisol and the whole family worked there. I ate there a few times and the homemade food was tasty and just like I remember my mother's cooking. There was a park dedicated to her and her husband for all the good things they have done for Greeley!

It was always nice when we saw each other and we could reminisce. Her mother passed away, an aunt, her husband, her uncle, her son and her daughter. Probably more though I did not know everything going on in her life.  I lost my mother, father, brother and son. She has many grandchildren and I have four.

On Friday I visited my friend. She had a stroke a few years ago and can no longer converse. She knows what she wants to say but can not get the words out. Being with her and her family gives me a wonderful feeling, almost as if I am part of the family.

Writing this blog has brought back so many memories and what good times we had growing up. Now, when we add up our ages it equals one hundred and sixty three years! May God grant us many more years as we continue to add to those numbers!

"Sometimes being with your best friend

 is all the therapy you need." 

From the Internet

"There is nothing on this earth

more prized than friendship." 

Thomas Aquinas

Cowboys, Music And Poetry

The Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering had a two hour free showcase on Sunday, January 19, 2020, in Golden, Colorado. I had been introduced to the affair by Susie Knight, a performer who entertained the Young At Heart Group at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community. She mentioned how there would be six persons that would sing and recite poetry. 

I arrived at the American Mountaineering Center and entered a hallway filled with people in western wear. Cowboys or cowgirls with large hats, cowboy boots, leather vests, large belt buckles, and guitars. A friendly bunch of people who made me feel right at home with their kidding and smiling. Since this was my first time at a function like this, I did not know what to expect. The stage had a microphone, two guitars on stands, and a beautiful backdrop of a mountain scene.

Lynne Belle Lewis from Mancos, CO,  known as the Yodeling Cowgirl Songstress, began the program by singing a song about Between Her Horse's Ears. She was followed by a guitarist/singer by the name of Jimmie Lee Robbins. A woman who has won awards for her poetry was Valerie Beard, Steve Jones, known as the Irish Tenor Cowboy sang Danny Boy, Levi Cody Richardson was the youngest cowboy and is a tremendous yodeler. Randy Hoyt recited poetry and the one about Alien's From Outer Space had everyone laughing. Each performer did four or five songs or poems.

What a fun place to be listening to such talented story tellers in song and verse. Made me wish I still had my boots and western wear I used to have when I was in the Country and Western dancing mode!

"Cowboy poetry is a form of poetry which grew out of the traditions of workers on cattle drives and ranches. After a long day in the saddle, cowboys would gather around a camp fire and entertain one another with tall tales and folk songs...and so goes the story called the Cowboy Poetry Gathering."

Taken from the 2020 Informational Magazine of the Colorado Poetry Gathering.

Mistaken Identity

Yesterday I received a phone call from a friend letting me know that a mutual friend had passed away.
"What," I exclaimed, "I just talked to her a few days ago!" My friend responded that the mutual friend had gone in to the hospital because there had been something wrong with her leg and died.
We both were in shock. Our mutual friend had become the cook for our large, 300+, group and we were counting on her for our monthly dinner in a few days. "Who will cook on Thursday," I asked. I was told that it was all arranged and that chicken would be purchased and people had been notified to prepare the dinner.

A trip was being planned to San Antonio, Texas and the mutual friend had told me that she "looked forward to going on the trip."  I felt horrible because now she would not be able to go. The logistics of finding another person to fill her spot fell to me and I called the person that would be her roommate. She did not answer the phone so I left a message for her to call me.

The question everyone was asking was, "How could this happen?" All day I felt sad with a scary feeling that we can go at any moment without any warning. Around four in the afternoon I received a call telling me it was a false report. Our mutual friend was alive and well and it was another lady, who I do not know, who had passed away. When my mutual friend's roommate returned my call, I did not tell her about the rumor but gave her another excuse for calling her.

I felt better and thought how fast news travels through the grapevine because I had heard that a few  other persons had heard the rumor and we were all relived that our mutual friend had not passed
away.

"What you don't see with your eyes, 

don't witness with your mouth."

Jewish Proverb

Eighty Five Year Old Celebrity

January 8th happened to be Elvis Presley's birthday. He has always been one of my favorite singer but a friend of mine is ecstatic about Elvis. She has many Elvis items in her home, she carries a large Elvis purse, has a watch with Elvis pictured on it, has a bill fold that sports a copy of his face and a jacket with Elvis on the back. When I saw an ad for a tribute to Elvis at Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver performed by REKHA I knew my friend would want to go hear Elvis songs.

I called a couple of friends, made arrangements, purchased light rail tickets, and the four of us headed for Union Station. Arriving on Track seven, we asked where we would catch the free shuttle bus. It was dark with some Christmas lights shining but everything looked different at night. We relied on people who gave us directions as to where we could catch the shuttle.  How happy we felt when we found the mall bus that would take us to Curtis street and disembarking from the shuttle, we walked about a block to Bauer's Dazzle Jazz Club.

Entering the semi-dark bar we were greeted by a young man who sat us in a large yellow, curved booth. We felt like teen-agers visiting the bar because after a certain age we no longer go clubbing!Funny that the older I get, the waiters look like high school students! We were an hour early and decided to eat pizza for dinner even though they have a full menu. Older people began arriving and we had to laugh because we knew Elvis' friends had to be an older group. There were some young persons also and they seemed to enjoy the music as much as we did. Some were bouncing up and down in time to the music.

The musicians were excellent and some of Elvis' songs were jazzed up and sometimes I did not recognize the number. When they played familiar tunes everyone sang along with the band members. One man knew every song and I could imagine him as a young man singing the songs over and over again as he courted his girlfriend. When I was young, my favorite song was I Want You I Need You And I Love You and I would set the record player to repeat it over and over. Sometimes my mother would come and turn the record player off and with an exasperated sigh, mumble "enough is enough!"

After the show ended, the female singer went around and chatted with the audience. My friend also went around and told different people the story of how when she was fifteen she heard Elvis for the first time.  "I had just come from Italy and could not understand a word of English but I liked how he moved!" A table of young men and woman called her over to admire her jacket. I could tell she was happy and enjoying talking to other Elvis fans. She told me, "You know, if nothing more is done for my birthday it will be all right because tonight has satisfied me; this has been so much fun!"

 I had to agree with her that this was a wonderful night and everything fell into place. Even the scare of thinking that she would not get into the train before it took off, gave us all a fright. She was saved by a young man loading his bike and pushing the button that opened the door before the train took off. When the doors slid open, I grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the train. A very scary moment! But, we all arrived safely to the Arvada stop and the saying of all's well that ends well, is true!

"Don't criticize that

man unless you have

walked in his shoes."

Elvis Presley

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ELVIS!

The Santa Suit

About fifteen years ago, I had a friend who fulfilled my every wish. All I had to do was say, "Gee, I'd like a bear costume." Silently he would find a seamstress, buy the material and surprise me with a bear costume." Every Christmas I would wear it and dance around to entertain my grandchildren. My son told me that I traumatized my grandson while wearing the costume! I do not know whether I did or not, but I had fun playing a bear for Christmas.

Once I mentioned needing a book on Mexico maps and I ended up with two or three maps that he purchased at a map store. If I mentioned I was craving a certain food, he would order and buy it for me to enjoy. If I mentioned my car needed to be washed, the next time I looked out and saw my car it would be sparkling clean. Once I said, "I would like to play Santa Claus." He showed up with a large box with a Santa suit.

 I never wore the suit and it was stored in my basement for years. Every year I thought I would put it on and surprise my friends, yet never did. This year, a friend mentioned he could play Santa because he had let his white beard grow out. When I saw him at one of our YAH parties, I saw that he, in deed, had a white beard but he did not have a Santa suit. Yet, I knew that he has always wanted to play Santa.

The first thing I did when I got home from the party was to dig through my Christmas stuff stored in the basement and get the Santa suit. I called him up and we met at the church where I gave him the Santa suit that would finally see the light of day by having someone wear it!


Spirit of Christ Catholic Community, Young at Heart Club, will now have a Santa for our Christmas parties! It makes me happy that the suit is being put to good use!

"You know you're getting

old when Santa starts 

looking younger"

Robert Paul

A Three Month Journey

Something we never think about, or at least I don't, is how long it took the three Wise Men or the three Kings to reach the manger where Jesus was born. The priest this morning gave an interesting homily about the three kings. He mentioned that it probably took about three months of traveling, and how they probably met other people along the way who wanted to know where they were going, asked why they were taking gifts and why they were they following a star.

The journey is our preparation to receive Jesus and never getting discouraged, no matter what trials meet us along the way. Their presence at the manger is what we should all strive for, being present when we worship and not being distracted by every day happenings. The priest asked why is it that when the wise men have a dream from God to not return the same way they had come made them take another route home. The conversation between the three men would have been, we will get lost, we don't know another way, it's easier the old way, we could run into danger, it will take more time because we already know the way, and so on.

When we go to confession, we do the same thing and usually take the same way back to sin instead of taking a different path. Even though we know the way we came was full of sin and harmful to our souls we should find another way and not follow the old way. Pretty much like the way the Kings argued about taking another road home. If they had returned the way they came Jesus may have been murdered and our souls can be "murdered" if we continue along the same path.

I liked the imagery and I know I will never look at the three kings or wise men the same way. The priest mentioned that we should go to confession at least once a year. I wondered how many Catholics, in this day and age, follow that rule! Growing up I do remember weekly confessions where same sins were repeated over and over again in the confessional. Now, I wonder what sins could a child possibly have?

And as I looked at the Nativity scene, Lo and behold, Nester was in this manger also! In case you have not read my previous blog about Nester, the donkey, who carried Mary to Bethlehem.

"May we, as did the wise men,

seek a bright, particular star

to guide us in our celebration

of the Savior's birth."

Thomas S. Monson

Oh What A Day

At 9:15 in the morning, I arrived at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community parking lot. I would be taking fifty-five persons by bus to Blackhawk to gamble at the Mardi Gras Casino. It was biting cold but already there were seven people waiting for the bus. Little by little the rest of the gamblers arrived and boarded the green and white Pacesetter Bus. At ten a.m. the bus was ready to head to the mountains for our New Year's Eve Day outing.

Jokes were told, candy and cookies passed around, a prayer was said for an ailing friend, and when we arrived at the casino we were given a five dollar voucher and once we earned 600 points we would get another five dollars and that would cover our lunch. At 11:45 a.m. champagne was poured, horns were given out, plumed head bands for the ladies and white hats for the men to celebrate the New Year at twelve. Okay, so it was the noon twelve and not the midnight twelve!

Some of us gathered with our glass of champagne, wished Happy New Year to each other and took pictures. Then off we went to play those addictive slot machines!  Some won and others had fun without winning. I heard that two persons won around $900 each so my guess is that they were extremely happy! I was not so lucky though I did find a couple of machines that let me play for long periods of time with some small wins and losses. When it was time to board the bus to return to Arvada, everyone seemed content and happy and that is a sign that the time spent at the casino was enjoyable whether they won or not!

After we were on the bus for our return trip, I gave each a fortune cookie with a positive saying and wished everyone a Happy New Year. The bus driver did an excellent job of getting us home safely and he was happy to receive an envelope with a generous tip.

 About eleven gamblers hung around the church to attend the Anticipated Mass at 5 p.m.to complete our obligation of mass on January 1, 2020; Solemnity of Mary Mother of God. Many of the Hymns were to our Blessed Mother and brought memories of when I sang in the choir at Our Lady of Peace Church in Greeley.

Today was one of those days that can be called perfect. Friends and mass certainly filled me with good feelings!

"Cheers to a New Year

and another chance to 

get it right."

Oprah Winfrey