My Father, over the past year, has had several brushes with death involving brain bleeds. In response to that, he recently sent out a letter to the family and I asked if I could share the very end of what he wrote there with those who read this blog and he said that would be perfectly fine.
It seems that that are not as many people open to life these days. I bought mom some flowers this year and announced that I thought she was the "pro-life mom of the year". Mom thought perhaps that was a contradiction but I told her that I thought not all moms are equally pro-life though it might be hard for her to imagine that. So what's my point here? You are all in a family that is very blessed and honestly, in my wildest dreams as a 24 year -old getting married, I could not have possibly imagined but I would not have exchanged the experiences we've had together for anything.
I am truly surrounded and engaged by love. Each of you bring out special elements and unique characteristics (mostly good) of each other. Without such an abundance of family we would never see some of these special sides of each other and we would not be loved in the unique ways that our large family allows us to be loved by so many unique individuals. I guess another way to say it is if we only had 2 children, I would only be loved in three ways and styles and personalities (my two children and my wife. Since I have 11 children I am able to be loved and engaged by 13 different personalities and that had made my life's experience (and yours) so much richer than it would have been without such a pro-life mom. Of course I am not working God or friends into the math of this simple illustration. And God's love is the most important. I am simply trying to get you to see what it is that God has given us in our family. I think it is a shadow of our heavenly family and a sign of the type of joy we will experience in heaven when we are truly surrounded by love.
To quote an old saying "home is heaven for beginners".
More to come.
Dad
Amen for Dads. My dad came from a big family (11 brothers and sisters)- so my extended family is huge. I love all the personalities, the love, the challeneges, unique expressions, communicating without speaking,etc. My own immediate family is much smaller- only five of us (but now with spouses and children there are 8) but I am convinced my family is what makes life so special!
ReplyDeleteI hope your Dad's health is improving and he is well- it's a scary thing to experience. I know your Dad and he is a wonderful man! Many blessings to you.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing. I hope I can be half the father (and educator) that he has been. I had the pleasure of seeing him at St. Barnabas recently, I also hope he is doing well.
ReplyDeleteQuite a family, you are truely blessed Fr. Hollowell.
ReplyDeleteBless your precious father for allowing us to appreciate these words. You are all very very blessed.
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