If Something Is Not Remembered, Did It Happen?

Yesterday, while visiting my son at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver I mentioned that I remembered when he was around four years old he was in the hospital for some minor surgery. "I remember you had Chicoco with you and when I said good-bye that evening, it broke my heart. Seeing you peering through the slats in the  bed, holding on to the ugly monkey, made me sad. I cried all the way home." He said, "I don't remember that, but I do remember when I got my tonsils out."

"You had your tonsils out?" I asked?

"Yes, don't you remember my eating Popsicles? In those days they did not have laser and had to suture the cut." He said he was around five or six years old.

For over twelve hours I have racked my brain trying to remember, but it is as if it didn't happen. How could I forget something like having my son in the hospital? My mind is blank. It is as if it never happened. It reminded me of the saying, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I even wonder if he heard me talk about my getting my tonsils out and my eating Popsicles and transferred my life for his. "You gave me a book about Curious George and there was an ambulance in the pictures." I wonder why I remember the first time he was in the hospital but not the second time?

Who took care of him? Could it have been my Mother since she watched my children. Could I have been so involved in my own busy life that I had spaced his being in the hospital? Did I not go visit him? (He remembers both me and his Dad visiting him.) I wondered, did he really have his tonsils out? "Why would they get your tonsils out, did you have a lot of sore throats?"

"No, it was because of my allergies. You really don't remember, do you?"

The following day, after waking up and still not being able to recall my son and his tonsil removal, I texted my daughter. "I don't remember, I was probably too young." Then she said, "ask Dad."

When I asked their father, he said, "Yes I remember something about that. I remember because I had my tonsils taken out when I was a kid." He did not know the when, or how old our son was, when the operation took place. Well, at least I knew the operation had taken place, it was just that I could not remember.
 
My mind continues to be a blank about his getting his tonsils out and it makes me wonder what else never happened!

Child Teaches Adult

Today, my fourteen year old granddaughter and I went to lunch at Amici's and then to the Dairy Queen for dessert. I know she does not like having her picture taken so I did not even try! I did manage to get her beautiful eyes! We spent about two and half hours catching up on what she has been doing since the last time I saw her.

At one point she said, "I think it is funny to see an older person trying to use their Smart Phone." I agreed. I said, "There are so many things I do not know about the I-phone that half the time I don't know what I am doing on my phone. You know the phone is much smarter than I am!"

In a matter of a few minutes, she showed me how to do Face Time, how to retrieve voice-mail, and an easy way to respond to texts. In a few seconds she looked up a map to get from her home to the high school she will be attending and how to erase photos. "You think you have deleted a picture but it is still on the camera, you then have to get over to this other part to permanently delete the picture." Some of the things she showed me I have already forgotten but she did tell me that any time I needed help, all I had to do was to call her.

The amazing thing is that once shown, it is so simple and made me wonder how I couldn't have figured it out myself. Sometimes it's just a matter of hitting a triangle or a circle! I am so proud of my granddaughter because she took it upon herself to show me what to do for certain functions on my phone. Next time I will have more questions so she can continue to instruct me on what I need to do to use my Smart Phone!

Scorpions and Snakes

At mass this morning, our parish priest gave a sermon that when he finished, I wanted to stand up and applaud. Of course I didn't.

It began with the reading for March 24.

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 252

Reading 1 Nm 21:4-9

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

I've heard this reading before and took it for granted that anyone looking at the snake on the pole would live.
Yet, when the priest commented on how curious it was that the very snake that was making people ill or killing them would also save them, I agreed. Why would what made them sick also cure them?

The homily also made me recall when my friend was bitten by a scorpion in La Paz, Mexico. After being stung by a scorpion (alacran) we rushed her to the hospital because her toes, hands and lips were getting numb. The doctor sent us back to retrieve the scorpion we had killed so he could see the type of bug that had stung her. He told us that once he knew, he would know which antidote to give her.

The priest explained that when a snake bites a person, the very venom of the snake is used as an antidote to combat the poison in the person's system. When he mentioned that our sin was like the bite of a snake or a sting of a scorpion and the antidote is being sorry for our sins, our sins would be forgiven and we would be saved, it made sense.

I finally realized how true those statements were. I found it strange that I had never given it such a deep meaning, but upon hearing this explanation, I felt better that God's love would overcome any of my pasts sins, as long as I was sorry and repented. As I listen to the homily I understood that I was worthy to be loved by God and as long as I took the antidote I would live!

From Myth to Reality

After leaving the Mythic Creatures I wandered through some of the other museum displays at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. North American animals and the Native American sections held my interest. Sixty some years ago, my parents began bringing us to the museum in Denver, Colorado. We may have made the trip from Greeley to Denver twice a year. The museum has grown a lot and now has many more spectacular features. Some of the displays have not changed and the one I liked best is still my favorite. White polar bears with an orange-pink sky.

Denver should be proud of all the authentic looking wild life displays in large windows. The displays looked realistic as I gazed at all the windows with moose,elk, mountain goats, wolves, birds, deer, bears and beavers.

 In the Native American panoramas I could see how Indians dressed and the beaded work done for their clothing and for their horses.

I know I will need to return because there is still so much more to see. Room after room awaits my next visit. But, for now, I have seen enough at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Mythology and Other Beings

Greek mythology has always interested me. Some of the Gods I still remember are Poseidon, Aphrodite, Pegasus, Hades, Zeus, and the cyclops with one eye. The Museum of Natural History and Science currently has a show featuring Mythic Creatures and I went to see the display. For a few hours I was transformed to my childhood as I gazed upon the many mythical beings from many countries.

The unicorn with a long horn was fascinating with its history of being a good animal of power and peacefulness. At one time it may have had religious meanings. Such as the unicorn representing Christ and when it would lay its head on a maiden's lap it symbolized Jesus in Mary's lap. Or the unicorn dipping its horn into water to purify the water so other animals could drink, could be showing Christ's sacrifice to cleanse the sins of mankind. I had never heard or read this version and I liked it. I remember my granddaughter went through a period where she loved unicorns and I can understand why the beautiful animal is so popular with children!

Mermaids also appealed to my granddaughters. Ariel with the flaming red hair became a favorite Christmas/Birthday present to give one of my granddaughters. She even wrote a story about mermaids. I have read stories about mermaids and how they saved sailors or how they also brought back luck to ships on the ocean. Many Figureheads on ships were mermaids.

As I moved through the exhibits I found some to be scary, some funny, and some with interesting stories. I saw Big Foot, Krakan, Chupacabra, Dragons, and large birds. It was like being in another world!

The small display that made me laugh was the one from Colorado. The Jackalope and the fur covered fish were two very strange creatures. I said, "Could this really be true?" The docent handed me a newspaper article and with a straight face said, "If it's in the newspaper, it must be true!"

Sad News

Today, March 21, 2015, I received a call from a friend of mine from Greeley. She asked, "Did you know that Romie passed away?" I told her I did not know and she continued to tell me that her funeral was today and her rosary had been last night. Romie was a friend from Greeley who attended my high school and belonged to my church. I recall playing softball with her and her brother. I moved to Denver and lost track of her until one day about fifteen years ago I happened to see her at Presentation of Our Lady in south Denver.

It was nice catching up on what she had been doing and on hearing about some of those friends from my past. She told me she lived across the street from a fire station in Arvada. Since I also live in Arvada, we made plans to get together but it never happened. Hearing about her death gave me a shock and a feeling of loss. Now we would never get together. I wondered why I allow friends to fade into backgrounds and even though my intentions are good, and I mean it when I make plans, those visits never happen.

I made a promise to myself that I need to see friends more often because I never know when either I, or they, will be gone. I called a parishioner from Presentation of Our Lady and she informed me that Romie had lost weight, had cancer but it seemed to be in remission, her kidneys had shut down, the reception was well attended and that Romie looked very nice. If I had to give anyone advice it would be to call your friends and let them know you are thinking of them. Visit them if you can and become more involved in their lives. None of us, no matter what we feel or believe, will live forever! And we never know when our time will come!

Good Friday

"Were You There 

When They Crucified

My Lord?"

Meditation on the objects used at the Crucifixion.