She is leaving tomorrow......

She goes to camp tomorrow. Her first time away. She is so excited but I am anticipating. Anticipating the emptiness I will feel inside. The same emptiness I began to fell every time he left home.............and now the distance is greater. When did she get sooo grown up? Eleven this past July, Oh Lord don't let her grow too fast. Let me savor, Let me inhale her...just a little while longer.

No Longer the Wordsmith

(saying goodbye to an old friend)

His real name is Anthony. He tells me that since he is now 18 I should list him on my blog by his real name.........not wordsmith. I have always told him that Saint Anthony picked his name. Its true. When he was born on August 1st, 1992 we had been expecting a girl. Not because we wanted a girl. We were happy with either, but because those military doctors were so insistent we could paint the nursery pink. We he was born, my husband Eric asked me what we should call him. I had not even entertained boy names because the doctors were so sure. Out of the blue I told him Anthony. He was shocked because no one we knew was named Anthony (my husband had not been baptized at this time and I was a fallen away Catholic). He thought maybe it should be Eric Jr., but I really felt Anthony fit the boy. :) I finally told him to put what he thought was best on the birth certificate and let me know what he chose.
His name is Anthony Vonley W.

For 8 years he was it and I cherished every minute of it. To daddy he was "his Little Buddy". For me he was Pookie! Because Francis died in the womb and we did not get pregnant again, we really thought he was the only child we would ever have. But God had other plans. I told you I was a fallen away Catholic..........actually I was an atheist and Eric was agnostic...........but Tony believed in God from the very beginning. He prayed all the time for brothers and sisters. They seemed to have a bond.........my son and the God I did not believe in. Tony would tell me what he said and I would smile and pat him on the head. I figured it was just my mom putting things in his head...........I let it go. The only reason he had been baptized was because she had insisted. I figured he would grow out of the religion phase............... talking to God and all. He never did. My husband and I grew into it. :)
Yes, Lord you do have a sense of humor.

He now attends school here and I miss him.

His dorm is actually here.


So he can discern this....................

Please pray for him.

Maggie

Before and After

When I posted the pictures in my earlier post "Transition", I could not find the before and after pictures of the sacristy turned Confessional that WordSmith did for his Eagle Scout Project. All I could find were the in-between pictures, so now that I found the before and after I am posting them here.


From the inside looking out

The Hallway Outside


Looking in

The old drop ceiling

The old sink

And now the New Finished Product!

Father's area

The Window

Looking in


There were sound panels strategically placed behind the Confessors Chair and where the Penitent would sit for a face to face, and one on the wall next to the window to ensure privacy. They put in a whole new ceiling with special acoustic board to keep sound from leaking from the room. It is so much nicer than the glass enclosed rooms we had before. You had to stand and wait on the other side of the Church so you did not hear everything.

Transition

This Summer has been a Summer of firsts.............a Summer of Transition and this transition continues into Fall. For Wordsmith its been a very busy time. As of August 1st my baby boy is a big 18. I wrote about his graduation earlier but I wanted to write about his special project. Wordsmith has been a Scout since he was 6. He was a Cub, Weeblo, Boy Scout, and even part of a Venture Crew. Scouting has always been a part of his life. We have been very lucky to be a part of the parish pack and troop and Faith has always taken a front and center in his Scouting Career. No surprise then when you find out that for his Eagle Scout project was to turn an old auxiliary sacristy into a confessional.

The neat thing is that although our troop is a parish troop we have a good number of boys from Protestant and Lutheran faiths in the troop. They like the Christ-centered focus of our troop. These boys and parents also helped on the project. One of the boys brought his family in to see the finished project and they asked my son all sorts of questions about confession. Wow what an evangelical tool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyhow enjoy the pictures.



Rita Chew and Jo Jo on the new bench outside the confessional.


Crown molding! and a new ceiling.......................

Before the wall went up...........



Progress






The wall and the window




Top view of the wall

Sound panels the finishing touch.
The pictures certainly do not do it justice. Im proud of you Wordsmith!