Megan turns 15

Jan 29, 2019

"When you're fifteen..."
You get to go out for dinner the night before, and pick the restaurant, Franco's. You get to convince your parents to drive to a Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. Then you get donuts for breakfast before you head out to high school. You even get the school system to close 3 hours early because of  your birthday and snow and freezing temps. Your big sister drives down despite the snow to hang out and eat dinner. The favorite bacon-wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and goat cheese. You also get to play games around the dining room table and end the day with the knowledge that you get to sleep in the next morning due to a 2 hour delay.

We are so blessed to have had Megan in our hearts for 15 years. Megan adds a beautiful layer to our family. Megan isn't subscribing to a specific mold and that can be isolating at times but she is growing in character. We were talking about the guys in high school and the inappropriate harassing that goes on. I asked her if she got harassed. She said sometimes but told me a story of one guy harassing a girl in her class, she said something and he directed his comments to her. Another guy in her class told him "no, she's not like that".  She has had some hard lessons about friends, and in those lessons has learned the weight of her decisions on her sense of self. She has learned about trust, and apologies, and making peace, and demanding to be treated respectfully.

Megan is doing well in high school and we are grateful to have a school with many options and programs. She has expressed interest in becoming a midwife, and is picking classes that lean toward early childhood tracks, also while staying with some of the engineering focus. The big issue with school this year has been her device. Our school system assigns each student their own device, a laptop for high schoolers. Megan's has been dysfunctional and she is regularly not able to do her assignments in the expected way. She has taken her device to the tech team over a dozen times, she has had multiple loaners, and many a night where she borrows Rachael's. It has caused a lot of delays and stress. I hope we can get the school system to issue her a new device.

Megan has a sense of style. It isn't the public school standard (leggings, t-shirts and ponytails) and she moves between different looks. Sometimes classy, sometimes throw back, sometimes comfortable. It is fun to see what she has put together from her thrift store finds. She appreciates beauty.  Stuff, even the beautiful things, can really overwhelm her room sometimes, but she knows how to put in the effort to get it back into place.

I have come to rely on Megan quite a bit since Jim started working at Guinness. I haven't figured out how to bi-locate yet, so regularly Megan is getting Johanna from the bus, or starting dinner, or babysitting while I run out to take care of taxiing duties. Megan has proven herself to be dependable. She complains sometimes but I know that if I need her she will step in.  I appreciate having her on my family team.

God Bless you Megan!

March for Life 2019

Jan 18, 2018

The theme of the March for Life this year was "Unique from day One", they took a pro-science focus and it really resonates with me. Truth is truth.

the definition of Life:

 the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally.

That definition fits from the point of conception. When fertilization happens, life begins. Alive. New life with distinct DNA. Unique. DNA that is classified in the species Homo Sapiens. Human. We are each a distinct unique human being.

This truth is why we march.  We believe that human life should be valued and protected. We believe that sacrifice is required by civil society to protect and ensure that individuals are treated with the dignity that is innate, no matter our stage or station.

This year Megan, Bridget and I attended. Bridget and  I went with OLV and St. Agnes on buses and Megan joined a group of highschoolers from the co-op that the Kureks belong to. I dropped her off the night before and they made an early start so that they could go to the youth rally and then the March.

It was an icy morning as the previous snow refrooze and schools were delayed 2 hours, but we got going safely and arrived near the March rally spot. I exchanged pictures with Megan via text and we realized that we were on opposite sides of the mall. The recent snow had been thoroughly trampled and rapidly turned in frozen muddy slush. We decided to describe it as "shmuddy".  The March had said that they were going to try to have a less partisan focus, as that can be divisive and alienate people, but a few of the speakers took a very partisan tone. Some in the crowd loved it and others not so much. It is tough when our political parties are split on many of the issues important to upholding the dignity of our fellow humans and when Trump is problematic on many fronts and disgusting on others. And has also succeeded in accomplishing many pro-life goals. I much preferred the speakers who focused on the humanity at stake with legal abortion and the creating of a society that values life and supports women so that abortion wouldn't even be considered.  The Knights were well represented as always. Soon we were moving toward the march route and we were glad to move off of the shmuddy grass.

There was a huge attendance this year and the bottleneck to get marching was daunting. As we were stuck in the bottleneck we saw the home school group that the Kureks and Megan were with, not too far from us. We could see Katherine and Megan. We tried waving and yelling to no avail. I texted her a picture of herself and she finally looked for us. Teresa Kurek was with us and she was thrilled to get to exchange waves. Bridget was too. I satisfied the desire to get a recognition of our common experience and then we got focused on moving through the crowd.

I see Megan

Our bus had a pretty early departure scheduled, so we had to move toward the edge of the crowd and move faster up the side. Sophia was a good leader and the younger cousins filed in behind her like ducklings. Joe, Becky Eric and I kept our eyes on everyone, and Matthew frequently hung to back. Moving along the side meant we got to see lots of groups from all over the US and take in the mass of humanity. We marched up Constitution Ave and took a moment to discuss with the kids why the March went to the Supreme Court. We also took a moment to be grateful that we live so close to our capital that we get to participate, see these buildings, and "petition the government for a redress of our grievances" This line is on the exterior of the Newseum. As we approached the top of the hill next to the Capital we turned to take in the scene and look back over where we came.

From there we enjoyed the hospitality of St. Joseph's, made use of the port a potties and picked up some snacks. We went over to Stanton's circle where our bus was picking us up and happily with everyone accounted for, we got on the road home.  Megan and homeschool group had stayed in the crowd on the march and finished almost an hour later, but they had a great time in the young joyful crowd.

I made big pot of potato soup and the Kurek's joined us for a spontaneous dinner together. It was a good day. There is an emotional lift by being with people together for a good cause. That night tough the media coverage or lack thereof brought me back to the reality that large swaths of our country don't acknowledge the truth that the unborn are Alive, Human and Unique and worth saving. This is why we march.

Baby Xavier

Jan 8, 2019

Right as I got ready to get into bed on Monday night, we got a call from Joe. Magaly was in labor and they would be heading to the hospital. It happened that their doctor's hospital affiliation had just changed that day so instead of going to the familiar St. Agnes, they were heading to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie. Magaly had been in labor since about 10:00 PM. The maternity ward was very busy and all of the rooms were full so they got Magaly set up in a PACU room, usually used for recovery after a c-section. Joe, Sophia and I all sat out in the waiting room and after what felt like a really long time they called Joe. Only 2 people were allowed so Sophia went with him. I was so glad they finally went back, every laboring woman needs a hand to hold.

Around 1 or 1:30 Joe came out and motioned for me to come with him. He said Magaly was in a lot of pain and asked for me. The room was tight but stocked. The medical staff was great and checked in regularly. Contractions were regular when I got there and obviously very painful. I went on her left side and Joe and Sophia on her right. Being with a woman in labor can be an experience of helplessness. She is the one bearing the pain, you can't make it go away but you can accompany.  Magaly bore the pain by rhythmically pushing, against the side rails that she was grasping. I was honored to accompany Magaly in her pain. Being with her instills awe. She was focused and self-controlled and she did the work. Joe is quiet and supportive and right by her side.

Baby was sunny side up so labor was probably prolonged and more painful. Despite that, baby Xavier was born after less than 5 hours of labor at 2:42 AM. He was a big baby but he was quiet at first. There had been meconium in the amniotic fluid so the pediatric team was there for the birth. The room was too small so the bassinet was in the hall and Xavi was whisked into the team's hands. It took a little bit but we soon heard strong cries. Joe and Sophia went out to be with him while I stayed with Magaly. Sophia was quiet and observant throughout and I think she was glad to have been there to experience her baby brother's birth.

They picked the name Xavier, which is pronounced Hav-e-air and his middle name is Enrique. We are so blessed to have him in our family. God is good.