For those of us on an academic calendar, the new year starts around now, not on January 1. It is always exciting to see a new crop of law students, even if I no longer am teaching law-related courses.
My silence over the last several days was the result of pre-occupation with getting Elena back to school for the last year of her undergraduate experience, along with some other things that provoked grief and anxiety.
The death of a friend and mentor from pancreatic cancer. The pain of Claire’s death was magnified by the fact that I had not seen her in the last two years as she struggled with illness and my family history with that disease; it is the one that killed my father, my aunt and her husband. There was some solace in that grief; a long phone conversation with Berta, friend to Claire and to me, with whom I had not spoken in a while. We shared our memories our lives, our pain – and our joys.
A medical scare that turned out to be not serious, but had looked at though it would be. We spent a week anxiously waiting for test results, and were finally able to relax yesterday afternoon. It was only then I realized how tightly wound I had been for the past seven days.
Past the events of the week, it is time to focus on the new semester. I am looking forward to some wonderful programming at the law school, as well as giving two weekend retreats at the Jesuit retreat house at OshKosh, presenting a series on the mystics at St. Kate’s, and some more good things (including a family wedding in NY and a visit from a dear friend).
For those of you in the Twin Cities and nearby, take a look at Facebook or my webpage to see where you might join us.
Creo en Dios! 