For the last couple of weeks people on Facebook have been putting as their status something they are grateful for.    I think exercises like that are important (in whatever form they take) because we need to step back and remember that everything we have is a gift from God.  The gift may come from another, but it is ultimately His gift to us through others.

Such a gift has come to us through some dear friends, Andy and Susi, who have been hosting Mike, now fully recovered, over this Thanksgiving holiday.   They have introduced him to life in the Tyrol and have taken him to some lovely Bavarian sites.  But over and above the sight-seeing, they have extended hospitality and love to a young college student, far away from home.   We are gifted by knowing that one of our own is being nurtured and experiencing another country in a way that the average tourist never can.

So we thank you, Andy and Susi, and we ask God’s many blessings upon you. You are dear friends and we miss you.

Being a mom is a source of many blessings.  It takes a lot of hard work for many years, and then when the kids are all grown you think you can now focus on other things.  I am not there yet, and frankly, don’t know if I ever will be.  Don’t get me wrong–my kids are great and don’t cause me any problems.  I bask in the knowledge that they are all practicing Catholics; that they are living honorable lives; that they are responsible; etc.  They are a constant source of joy in my life.

But the worries don’t stop when they grow up.  Larry tells me to pray more and not worry, because worrying doesn’t change anything.  I know he is right, but I can’t seem to turn down the worry button.  For instance…

Mike is in Europe for the semester.  He has had a bug that has had him coughing and feeling slightly off for about a month.  He has traveled, studied, written papers and gotten by.  But he just hasn’t been up to par.  I might as well be a million miles away because I can’t see him for myself and assess his problem. 

His class took its final trip last week to northern Italy.  While in Florence, his cough got the better of him and he landed in an Italian hospital.  His experiences there make me more convinced than ever that socialized medicine is not the way to go.   After putting him in an unheated waiting area and in line behind a bunch of other sick people, they wanted to keep him in for a week!  He has  a lung infection which the Italian doctor called “pulmonaris” and which the American doctor being consulted thinks is “pulmonitis.”  His treatment is two injections of high-powered antibiotics daily for the next 5 days, as well as a cortisone injection they gave him for the pain.  He left the hospital with a bag full of hypodermic needles, medicine and something for the cough.  Then he was put on a train by his professor back to Rome to recover and will not finish the trip with his class.  Now back in Rome, they have to bring in an Italian doctor twice a day to administer the antibiotics!

Think I’m sleeping peacefully?  Not.  But today, I spoke with him and he sounds good.  That is a consolation, but being Mom, I would really rather SEE him and assess how he is doing for myself.  Since that isn’t possible, I can only pray–try to turn off the worry button and trust that he will be OK.  As you finish reading this, would you please offer a prayer for his recovery?  Thanks.

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, has just signed a decree granting vaccine makers total legal immunity from any lawsuits that result from any new “Swine Flu” vaccine. Moreover, the $7 billion US Government fast-track program to rush vaccines onto the market in time for the Autumn flu season is being done without even normal safety testing. Is there another agenda at work in the official WHO hysteria campaign to declare so-called H1N1 virus—which has yet to be rigorously scientifically isolated, characterized and photographed with an electron microscope—the scientifically accepted procedure—a global “pandemic” threat?

The current official panic campaign over alleged Swine Flu danger is rapidly taking on the dimensions of a George Orwell science fiction novel. The document signed by Sebelius grants immunity to those making a swine flu vaccine, under the provisions of a 2006 law for public health emergencies

My last living uncle died on the 28th of October.  He is the last blood relative of my parents’ generation.  Uncle Frankie was a gentleman and a gentle man.  He worked hard for his family and saw his wife, Aunt Toni, through a very painful death. 

I last saw Uncle Frankie when he came to the deathbed of my Mom, 2 1/2 years ago.  He was frail, but he wanted to be with her.  For that, I will always be grateful.

Uncle Frankie’s death means my generation of siblings is on the top of pyramid.  That gives me pause for reflection on my own mortality.

Frank Lopez Cota
Frank Lopez Cota our beloved father, left his family on earth October 28, 2009, to join his wife and family in heaven. Preceded in death by parents, Francisco and Lucinda Cota; wife, Tonita Bujanda and son, Eugene Cota. Survived by daughters, Clara (Martin), Gina, Frankie Rebecca and Lucinda; son, Frank James (Alejandra); grandchildren, Gabriel, Angelica, Antonio, Frankie, Rebecca, Adrian, Danielle and Helena; great-grandchildren, Anyssa, Amaya and Jaida. He was retired from Hughes Aircraft after 32 years. Our dad loved his family. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, reading and crossword puzzles. He will be forever in our hearts and greatly missed.