Today we received the sad news of the death of my sister’s mother-in-law, Marlene Froula (addressed in this post over 5 years ago) and the death of my parents’ pastor, Fr. Martin Kelly of St. Patrick’s Parish in Nashua, NH.

Please join me in praying for the repose of the souls of these faithful servants of God.

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.
Amen.

In honor of Father’s Day ( This SUnday!), Fathers for Good has a nice collection of brief essays about writers’ relationships with their fathers.

I was honored to be asked to contribute and happy for the opportunity to share about my dad:

Sharing His Mind With Me

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I love you!

You will not want to miss Rachel Balducci’s confession and commentary on the “RHL Scandal” today.

My column at Crisis today, sharing how we Beans “do” family meetings:

Air Your Grievances Here

— 1 —
We’re approaching the end of our school year and I am tired. TIE. URD. When people used to ask me “how I do it all” with homeschooling and working from home and blah-blah-blah, I used to joke that I wasn’t sure and that perhaps I would collapse from exhaustion on my 40th birthday. Well. I am turning 39 next week and nothing about that joke seems funny to me anymore.

— 2 —
I love Pandora. On my laptop. On my phone. On my TV. I realize this makes me a spoiled person, but I don’t even remember life without it.

— 3 —
Next week is the beginning of the end of our baseball and softball seasons. We will still be playing — don’t get me wrong — but a couple of the kids’ seasons will end. I am feeling very OKAY with that.

— 4 —
Check out my adorable parents — leaving for their honeymoon 43 years ago. Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! You done good!

— 5 —
I’m going to be in Canada the first week of July. See you there? Dan has been teasing me about the sled dogs and wool coats that I will encounter during my stay in the Great White North. We finally got a bit of summer weather here in New Hampshire. Say it isn’t so.

— 6 —
Did you watch the National Spelling Bee? I love those kids! Every single one of them in the final round absolutely broke my heart with their sweet earnestness and pure genius. Can you spell Swischenspiel? Those kids are awesome.

— 7 —
Ambrose and Stephen are having a competition this summer to see who can get the best photo of a butterfly. Here is one of Ambrose’s recent efforts. A painted lady? Not sure, but it’s pretty.

Is that seven already? I was just getting started …

(Check out all the 7 Quick Take entries over at Jen’s place.)

Safe!

HT: Deacon Greg