By dovemarie
| Author Notes |
Thanks to Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay
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By dovemarie
I had a lot of losses in 2024. I was judged unfairly by the priest in my church, and I had several incidents with members of my church who didn't even bother to ask how I was doing when I had back-to-back back injuries in Feb. 2024. One of them said shortly and abruptly during Holy Week, when I asked her for a ride home, "No, no more rides," (and my back was killing me.) The sacristan, a young man named David, said, "It was probably your impatience." I hadn't been impatient, I just asked her if I could get a ride. I went back to my pew and cried after she refused (I hadn't been expecting her to refuse.) My friend Rachel dashed out of the church on St. Patrick's Day, after Mass, without bothering to see if I needed a hand. I was told that I had to apologize to people who were rude to me. I was thrown out of my ministries in the church from April - November 2024. I was in a psychiatric hospital in May 2024 because of all these troubles at the church and also because of difficulty with a couple of members at my day program, a club for the recovering mentally ill.
I received a letter from Pope Francis' secretary saying he liked my poem that I sent him, and that he would keep me in his prayers, in January 2024. The poem is called "Mother of May."
In October 2024, I visited Italy for 10 days. It was a blessed, informative, exciting trip.
I visited a friend of mine, Stephen, in the hospital several times during 2024. I made him supper and breakfast a couple of times when he stayed over at my apartment. I was reinstated in my ministries in November 2024, singing at our Thanksgiving dinner and reading at Mass. I visited Stephen in the hospital for what turned out to be the last time on Dec. 19, 2024. He had been put on dialysis. He had fainted at his apartment and at the club off and on during 2024. I am a Eucharistic minister, and I brought him Holy Communion. I called him on Friday, Dec. 27, and he passed away New Year's Eve morning.
I had had terrible incidents with a member of my day program named Aggie, until Dec. 16, 2024, when I gave her a present that she liked. I had picked her name out for Secret Santa. We've had a good relationship ever since. Another member named Beth, who is 38 years old, gave me a present for the Secret Santa. Since my son is also 38 years old, I felt as though she was like a daughter to me ( I haven't seen my son since he was a toddler, and he has no contact with me now)
Stephen's death and my new relationship with Aggie mark the beginning of a Blessed New Year in 2025. I attended Mass on January 1, New Year's Day, then got rides to the day program and to Adoration at the church. A staff member at the day program gave me a picture that she had taken of me and Stephen last summer. I'm glad that I'll always be able to look at it and remember.
| Author Notes | Grief, happiness, relief, hope, all these feelings are with me right now. I'm glad I have made closure with certain things, I feel as though the New Year is a budding, blossoming flower. |
By dovemarie
Looking back at years lost
Paying the heavy cost
Many years were destroyed
Circumstances I could not avoid
Born in January cold,
Birthdays filled with pain untold
I ponder and reflect
On how I was a society reject
Suffering from mental ills
Birthdays celebrated in deathlike chills
I'm looking forward to a fruitful year
Washing away each salty tear
Facing my future without fear
| Author Notes | My 69th birthday is coming up on January 14. |
By dovemarie
On New Year's Day, I attended Mass and then went to my day program, a vocational club, where I took attendance, cleaned the bathroom, answered the phone, served at the snack bar, and cleaned up the kitchen after lunch. I got a ride from someone in my church to Adoration. I was working and praying rather feverishly as I had just been told that a dear male friend of mine, also a member at the club, had passed away New Year's Eve morning.
However, I am going on with new activities in my life, in contact with an agency that helps get jobs for seniors. And I will be enrolling in computer classes. My birthday is coming up on Jan. 14. I will be going out to a restaurant with my case manager the day before. I feel as though the past year was a wilting flower, but this year will be a new blossoming.
| Author Notes | I feel like I am budding and blossoming like a flower for the New Year. Thanks to naturepost from Pixabay |
By dovemarie
Winged spirit, conducting me to earth
First gift at my birth
Protecting me from danger and foes
Comforting me in all my woes
In the past I've not heeded his word;
Gentle advice and warnings unheard
I call him Baby Cherubim
Singing his angelic hymn
I've christened him Genesis
This Holy Year is the beginning of bliss
So many times he's been ignored;
I'm hurt him and our majestic Lord
But now my Guardian's blessings are being outpoured
As he leads me to my Heavenly reward
| Author Notes | A poem on my birthday, Jan. 14, dedicated to my Guardian Angel. Thanks to VMarguarite from Fan Art Review. |
By dovemarie
On Jan. 14, I celebrated my birthday. I attended Mass and received a card, a box of chocolates, and a blessing from the priest. Later that day, I went to my day program and they sang Happy Birthday to me, and one of the members made a cake and a card for me. Then I went to the YMCA and paddled around the pool and worked out a little. I went to Adoration to thank Jesus for my blessed day.
By dovemarie
On Jan. 16, my I-phone was stolen at my day program. However, when I returned to my apartment, I asked my neighbor if I could use her phone so I could make some calls. She had a new phone, and she generously gave me her old phone. A woman at my day program worked on getting my old phone shut off so I wouldn't have to pay any more charges. She worked on the new phone, taking the contacts of its former owner off it, and she said I'd be able to retrieve pictures from Italy that I took with my lost phone from people who were on the pilgrimage to Italy with me. All I have to do now is buy a SIM card for the new phone to activate it, or maybe the carrier will give me a free one since I'm already their customer. God works in loving and mysterious ways, and for all good. Thanks to my friends Jennifer and Lisa who helped me.
| Author Notes | Continuous losses, yet blessings in the New Year. God always brings good from evil. Thanks to Olly Browning from Pixabay |
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| © Copyright 2015 dovemarie All rights reserved. dovemarie has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
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