Travel with Marys: Saying Goodbye

Why THIS Blog

This Blog is designed to be a virtual retreat with daily reflections geared toward the public as well as specifically for the community of women at Church of Mary Magdalene / Mary's Place for homeless women. It is a site that pulls from the words of the women themselves on what they would like in a retreat if they could go somewhere else for a time. In this retreat we will do some globe trotting, based solely on my own travels as a spiritual director who enjoys volunteering for Mary's. All are welcome on our journey, in this era of financial woes there are many who need retreat and are unable to afford to travel. I hope this proves to be one more source of unending gift of spiritual retreat for renewal of life: mind-body-spirit!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Saying Goodbye

When I left Piegaro in November for 3 weeks to Seattle I knew I would be deciding if I would be returning to Seattle or staying in Italy for pretty much life. My priest, Don Augusto, my dearest friends Maria, Maria Pia and Colleen all knew that this was a difficult time for me and vowed to pray for me as I entered this time of discernment, this time away from my beloved Piegaro back in the United States, back with my children.

Upon return to family I realized they wanted, I wanted, to live in the vicinity of one another, not on the other side of the world. But I needed to return to Piegaro to say my goodbyes. Saying goodbye has become a pattern of life that has troubled me for many years. To say goodbye to Piegaro was one step worse than constant pattern of moving across Seattle time and again. For I know it will be very rarely that I see these friends again, I can’t simply pick up the phone and call to arrange a lunch or happy hour meeting.

Not all my friends will be back when I return for visits either. The day before I left Piegaro in January my friend Maria Pia died. This was poignant on so many levels, but especially her last words to me when I left to visit Seattle in November were, “I will wait for you,” she was dying of cancer. But wait she did, and we had a couple of good talks before she made her final exit from this world into the heavenly realms. We spoke of eternity and she said we must always remember Easter. Then she asked me to walk the beautiful little church of San Silvestro Papa in Piegaro and to be her eyes, to see everything and pray for her. As I did this little duty, this tiny work of grace, my prayers poured for my eternal friend, prayers of gratitude for this gift she had given me in this chore, this sacred sharing. As I sat at the familiar pew with my friends one asked if I was angry as my brows were furrowed in concentration. I told her no, and told her of Maria Pia’s request, my friend took my hand, gave it a squeeze and nodded as we entered into the praying of the Rosary.