A Year and a Day
Good evening Catie journeyers,
Please accept my heartfelt appreciation for your on-going decision to journey with us as we face each new day believing and trusting in God’s very real presence in our lives. I pray that you feel His love as tangibly as I do and that it transcends whatever struggles and crosses currently exist in your day. Before I began to write to you today, I took the time to go back to Catie’s journal to see what we were doing last year on this day. Catie had just finished Round 2 of Chemo and we were reflecting on the 5 months that had passed at that point and the toll it had taken on our beautiful daughter. Catie struggled through the taping of the “Ready, Set, Go” and thank you for the Catie Run as she struggled with many things last November. Catie was still 2 weeks from learning that the tumor was back and could not be stopped, but in retrospect, the signs were already becoming evident. How blessed we were that in the short time between suspending treatment and the tumor taking her from us that the real Catie came back to us. As much as I wish for one more late night pumpkin pie feast filled with giggles and joy and carefree timeliness, I wish that each of you could have had just one of those moments with our sweet little girl. If you were blessed to have that moment, it would provide the beautiful mixture of tears and joy that the memory provides me.
We have had a very peaceful week and once again, prayer has been the difference. Christine related that she had been led to a prayer card that talked about Mary’s sorrows and the devotion to pray while meditating on those sorrows. Sometimes reflecting on another person’s suffering and crosses gives us the perspective we need to deal with our own. Whatever your personal belief about Mary, there is no doubt that as she witnessed her Son’s life and death that it carried tremendous maternal pride as well as unbelievable grief. Mary’s seven sorrows, the presentation in the temple, the flight to Egypt in the face of Herod’s order of death, the finding of Jesus in the temple, the meeting on the road to Calvary, standing at the foot of the cross, holding Jesus in her arms after He has died, and the placing of Jesus’ body in the tomb are each moments that bring a wellspring of emotion and courage. Mary’s example is always consistent, continue to say yes to God, and continue to turn to Him in prayer. This week, as a family and as individuals, we did just that and the peace that accompanied that choice was and is amazing. Thank you Christine for finding the prayer card and leading us to pray and meditate.
Tomorrow morning I leave for 3 days on the West Coast and as much as I am grateful that such a trip means that I have a job when many do not, I am sad to be leaving. Even after all of these months of being back together, any separation from Christine and the fab 5 is difficult and summons hidden emotions and pain. I am still not over our separation of last year and though I would make the exact same choices again, I miss my bride and I long to be the man and husband God created me to be everyday.
On to the update on the CWF (Catie’s Wish Foundation). We are moving forward, sometimes at lightspeed and other times glacially, but always forward. This week provided many tangible advances. The website designer has been selected for the foundation and we are thrilled to be working with Big Big Design. Please keep us in your prayers this weekend as we meet with the designers and attempt to take all of the thoughts, prayers and ideas from Catie and Christine’s minds and do them all justice in cyberspace. Christine has done an amazing job of laying the groundwork for the Catie’s Wish Ambassadors and has sent out 50 packets of material to help spread the word about Catie and her Wish. I am sure that there is a beautiful saint named Catie smiling down on her mom with a huge feeling of pride. We have a big event coming up on Saturday the 21st as St. Jude and the CWF co-host the Give Thanks Walk in the Harrisburg Mall. Please pray that we have a huge turnout. This Saturday, the fab 5 will be leading Santa Claus into the mall as a prelude to the walk the following weekend.
That is all the news that’s fit to print at this point. Please know that you ALL continue to be in our daily prayers. May God continue to bless you and the work of your hands,
Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie.
PS – please join your prayers with ours as we ask for God’s Divine healing upon Alex, the Ives family (Sydney joined Catie in heaven on Saturday night), Lara, Lyric, young Jack, Mariam, the McCarthy family, Nancy, Pat, Robert, Thomas, William, and for all of the 46 children who are diagnosed with cancer each day and the 7 that die despite the best efforts of medical professionals.
