Today we officially celebrate Father’s Day in the
United States, so it’s time to talk about my dad. There are so many adjectives
to describe him. He was an honest, humble, cheerful, hard-working, creative, intelligent,
disciplined, and compassionate man, who loved clocks and old things. In spite
of being poor, he always cared for others, and he was not afraid to cry when he
saw a sad movie or heard a sad story. (I’m not bragging, but I am very much
like my father.)
When he suffered a stroke, I cried every day, because we were close. At the time, I lived in Fort Worth, Texas, too far away from Brownsville, Texas, to be helpful; however, I visited him as much as possible, and tried my best to give my sister and Mom, his caretakers, my complete support. That was a rough time, so I asked God to please help Dad. He had suffered enough. Six months later, God answered my prayers. Dad passed away, and I went home to take care of his burial. I tried to be as strong as he was. The youngest of four children, I didn’t shed a tear (I had done all my crying before he passed away.) as I took charge and handled my father’s funeral arrangements. I’m sure he was in heaven, smiling at my ability to coordinate his funeral services.
One thing that was difficult to do was to visit his best friend at home. He was probably 87, and had been Dad’s friend for years. His caretaker, also his goddaughter, ushered me to his bedroom, where he lay in bed. We chatted for a while, and he told me that he was not going to be able to attend Dad’s burial (He had knee problems.), but that he would go to the church services. Then he said something that almost broke this stoic woman into tears, but I controlled myself.
Dad’s friend said, “I had to get sick to find out who my friends were, and I can tell you that your father was truly my friend. He came to see me every day. It was winter time, and he would stand outside my window, and talk to me from there. I invited him inside, but he always declined, saying he was fine. I told him that it was cold. And he answered that he was wearing a coat.” (Dad was wearing the coat my oldest brother and I bought him one Christmas. Dad must have loved that coat, plus our special gesture.)
Today and every day I thank Dad for all the things he did for his children and for his wife who had epilepsy. Thank you, Dad! Have a wonderful time in heaven with Mom, your oldest son, and friends.
A parting comment: Love your parents. Sometimes you may think they don’t love you because they may be too strict but they do.
Praying and Thanking Our Armed Forces for their Courageous Invasion of Normandy during WWII
Many members of our armed forces and our allies lost their lives during the invasion of Normandy. We owe them our gratitude for helping us fight Hitler. An account of D-Day by David Chrisinger can be found by clicking here.
Today we officially thank our armed forces for the sacrifices they made to protect our country. I especially remember and pray for my deceased brother, Victor, who served in the army, and for my deceased brother-in-law, David, who was a marine, and my husband, Bob, an army veteran.
White IrisWisteria BloomPurple IrisRed RoseYellow Iris
In the United States, Mother’s Day is always celebrated the second Sunday in May; however, my mother was born in Mexico, where the official day to celebrate mother’s day is always May 10th. Therefore, our family always celebrates Mother’s Day, (El Día de las Madres) on May 10th. I miss my mother and think of her everyday. She was a strong woman. She had to be! Living with an incurable illness (epilepsy) must have been very hard. I didn’t understand how much she must have suffered when I was growing up, but now I do since I have the severe form of fibromyalgia.
Mom loved flowers. She enjoyed working outdoors taking care of her plants. Unfortunately, one day Mom fell down on the front porch. Luckily, my sister was at home and immediately took her to the hospital for a checkup.
At the time I was living in Fort Worth, too far away to help immediately. Yet, I knew my mother loved flowers, so I called a florist and ordered a bouquet of flowers to be sent to my mother’s hospital room. She told me that she loved the flowers, and that she was fine, but the attending physician recommended that she stay overnight. The following day as my sister was getting ready to take Mom home, she told me that my mother loved the flowers, said the bouquet was huge, and that they had to take it home. There was no way my mother was going to leave the flowers behind.
I talked to her that morning. Mom said that she was fine. I was grateful that nothing serious had happened to her when she fell, but she wasn’t worried about the fall. She was delighted by the flowers; hence, I thought placing pictures of flowers on my blog was a great way to honor her today.
On Saturday, April 27, 2019, a a memorable experience took place at the McNay Art Museum of San Antonio, Texas. My husband and I were very fortunate to attend an Antiques Roadshow (AR) event. We have been watching AR for years! This year we applied for tickets to attend the show. We were feeling disappointed when we hadn’t heard from them, but suddenly on Wednesday, an email appeared in my inbox . Wow! I couldn’t believe that we were being given an opportunity to attend! Panic set in because we weren’t sure what items to take so they could be appraised. Thursday, we spent a considerable amount of time searching for items to take. Finally, we settled on four. I took a ring and bracelet. My husband took a book and a piece of Rookwood pottery.
We were so excited as we drove to San Antonio, Friday, and were so pleased that our niece provided food and lodging for us. We had told her about the event, but neither she nor her mother got tickets. We were the only ones who got lucky.
Anyway, we had an exciting time. We met most of the appraisers. I met Kevin Zavian, hugged him, and had my picture taken with him. Then, I met and hugged Leslie Keno. And, of course, also had my picture taken with him. Boy! That was exciting! All of the appraisers were so nice and friendly. The show itself was very well organized. I participated in the AR Feedback Booth. I hope that I didn’t make a fool out of myself. I have a tendency to call AR “the Antiques Roadside Show”. I hope I didn’t say this. If I indeed made this speech blunder, my husband said that I did okay because I was an enthusiastic speaker.
It was a pleasure to attend the event, and I hope that we are able to attend the show again! Thank you AR for making my day!
Bob and Mark Schaffer
Bob and Maria
Suzanna Perrault and David Rago
McNay Art Museum
Kevin Zavian Filming Session Maria and Kevin ZavianMaria and Leslie Keno
On Easter Sunday, the crucifix in my favorite church was no longer covered with a purple shroud. I don’t have a picture to celebrate that Christ has risen, so I decided to put a picture of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville, Texas, because it brings pleasant childhood memories about Easter, such as hunting for eggs in our overgrown backyard grass.
Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Egg hunting was a serious undertaking. I recall we saved egg shells to color and later fill with confetti that we cut from school paper we no longer needed. Once filled with confetti, the colored egg shell openings were covered with soft tissue. We called these eggs “cascarones” and hit each other’s heads with them. I must admit that some of my cousins hit pretty hard and the pain lingered on my skull. I never found enough cascarones to get even, but I had a lot of fun.
Why do I have an orchid? I’ll explain why. I’m not thrilled to see Jesus suffering. Instead of looking at a picture of Him, being beaten while dragging a cross, I prefer to see this beautiful flower.
I was very busy today with bank business which took me a bit longer than expected. I was late for my massage appointment, but got some treatment, though.
Late afternoon, close to 6:00, I visited my favorite church hoping it was open. It was! It’s crucifix was covered with a purple shroud. A religious service was going on, so I stayed for the ceremony, recalling what Jesus had done for us. He knew what was going to happen to Him, but proceeded with great courage. Thank you, Dear Jesus, for what you did!
Since it was getting late, my husband and I tried IHOP for the first time. We got an excellent deal. Two meals for the price of one. Jesus rewarded us for visiting Him. Great!
Palm Sunday, the last Sunday of Lent, marks the beginning of Holy Week and the Lord’s triumphant entrance to Jerusalem where He was greeted by people carrying Palm fronds; only to be crucified later by the same people who welcomed Him.
Palm Sunday is a time to reflect on God’s love for us. He sent us his only begotten son to save us from ourselves. Jesus suffered immensely. After His terrible death on the cross, He resurrected three days later. That action proved Jesus indeed was the son of God.
I look forward to Easter Sunday. It is a reminder that God loves me, and has always been by my side, especially through tough times. Today, and every day, I thank Jesus for loving me, my husband, relatives, pets, and friends.
M. E. Murray 
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