Life is but a stopping place,
Memorial Prayer Cards Top 10 Memorial Prayers
a pause in what’s to be,
a resting place along the
road to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys,
different paths along the way,
we all were meant to learn some
things, but never meant to stay.
Our destination is a place
far greater than we know,
for some, the journey’s quicker,
for some the journey’s slow.
And when the journey finally ends,
we’ll claim a great reward,
and find an everlasting peace,
together with the Lord.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve seen a lot of 3:10s… like dozens … looking at the clock, mostly, but with other things like order totals and comments on social media posts, etc.
Why would I even notice a pattern with such a number, you ask??
I share a birthdate with my grandma Linda of 3/10. Jerry, my grandpa’s brother, was also born on 3/10. My grandma’s sister, Shirley, died on our birthdate (3/10) and my grandpa Jack drew his last breath at 3:10pm on a sombre afternoon in November.
(If you’ve ever seen “Where the Heart Is”, she doesn’t like 5’s…)
I loved always having a “birthday buddy” – grandma Linda did a great job of taking the unwanted extra attention off of me! The two of us were very close and shared the special sort of bond that I pray Cambrie will share with my mom. 3/10 was a special, meaningful day until my grandma passed; the person I always got to celebrate with was no longer there beside me.
Fast forward to November of 2022.
Grandpa Jack is being cared for and living comfortably at my parent’s home while living out the final stages of his life. The call our family had been anticipating finally came one afternoon as I was headed to Mac’s 2-yr pediatric check-up. Husband Paul graciously agreed to take Mac to his appointment alone so, after regaining my ability to drive and wiping the last of the tears away, I started toward my parents’ house.
I open the downstairs door as quietly as possible and make my way up to the living room where I knew my family would be gathered – in the same room where grandpa’s body still laid on the home hospital bed.
{{ I can honestly say I was NOT prepared to see this… didn’t really think about what I was walking into, I guess. Just kinda horrible describes the initial gut reaction to seeing him lifeless, his physical body having been terminally taken over by what started off as a couple of rogue cells produced in error }}
Second to my quick analysis of his appearance, I soon spot a sticky note on mom’s farmhouse table with the time “3:10” scribbled on it. I ALMOST held it together, until I didn’t. I lost it. And out to the kitchen I went, fully breaking down with head in hands.
Like SERIOUSLY?!
Did he really take his last breath at 3:10p?
In that moment, I just kept telling myself over and over that March 10th would never again be the kind of day worth celebrating anything. I was absolutely meant to see that sticky note.. I knew it then but couldn’t imagine any positivity coming from it.
Like I said, I’ve been seeing A LOT of 3:10s within the past month or so and I finally have a few ideas on it.. each time I saw 3:10 on the clock or in paperwork, I instantly thought about my grandpa Jack (his last several months of life on earth, in particular).
There’s not one time that I can remember hearing grandma or grandpa talk about God or the Lord in a way that would lead me to believe they had some sort of deep relationship with Him – outwardly, at least. My grandma’s mother was quite the Christian woman from what I’ve been told about her. Helen. I can picture her now in a long dress (suitable for church, of course) with her grey hair curled up short.
Grandpa Jack always said, “Helen was a good woman”. And you knew he meant it.
He’d often follow-up by explaining that while his mom and step-dad were out at the town “tavern”, Helen would be at home tending to things that needed tending to. I suppose individual interpretations of the word GOOD could mean many things but my grandpa was a kind and simple man, and I believe he meant GOOD to be just that – Helen was sure to be present where she was needed. Perhaps her close relationship with the Lord helped her in making intentional decisions for good.
I don’t know what kind of relationship my grandpa Jack had with God but I do know that he knew Him.
Just a short time before grandpa passed, Father Aaron from our Parish was kind enough to spend a few minutes visiting and chatting with him. Priests can perform Last Rites for the gravely ill or sick persons that have already received the sacrament of baptism. Grandpa Jack did not think he had been baptized and anyone who might have known were already gone.. So I reached out to Father Aaron to see what could be done or said or prayed while grandpa still had most of his wits about him. Even though Father Aaron couldn’t say Last Rites, he made it a point to visit over a little prayer and a little conversation. I was a bit worried initially about how grandpa could react to a priest essentially helping to direct his soul towards rest. I believe I worded the visit as a small gift we could give him as his family. Even though he interrupted one of Father Aaron’s prayers to ask whereabouts he grew up, I really believe the visit made a positive impact.
I am so very thankful Father Aaron was able to sit with him – show him love & kindness & respect.
Another important Sacrament is the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. This is when Catholics reflect (examination of conscience) on the sins committed since their last confession and confess those to a Priest so we may be forgiven and our souls cleansed back to the perfect state given to each of us at our Baptism.
My last confession was over a year ago and required of me through RCIA… I always had good intentions of making it to confession but my worries about saying the wrong things or not knowing where to go or how to approach the confessional won out every time. Needless to say, I TOTALLY get and believe in the importance of making a confession… and have felt called to do so since Cambrie was born in February.
Feeling the guilt of more sins weighing me down over time and wanting to be a daughter of God completely forgiven and new, I could feel a heaviness on my heart Thursday morning as I drove to work. I NEEDED to go to confession or adoration or just be close to the church. The Holy Spirit was directing and guiding me to where I needed to be, just like I had asked in prayer earlier this week.
I started going through my examination of conscience and quickly realize I needed to make an appointment for confession so as not to take too much time away from others trying to get their confessions in before weekday mass communion… I emailed the Fathers and Father Aaron responded right away (he is the priest who visited and prayed with grandpa Jack) with time available to meet the next morning – which was Friday morning at 8:30a. After I set the meeting with Father Aaron, I went back to entering the sales order I was working on.
>>>Toshiba LV Motor website
>>>entered motor part number
>>>checked current cost to req …
>>>”Net Price: $310.99 Each”
I’m super big on signs that stop you right in your tracks. This was one of those.
I felt at that moment that grandpa was praising me for finally setting confession and keeping a right relationship with the Lord. Not to mention it was with Father Aaron so I’m going to take this also as a sign from grandpa that he was appreciative of having that short visit with Father before he passed.
You may call these baseless leaps of assumption but I will call them HOPE & LOVE.
