Monday, February 20,<\/p>\n
I was gone most of last week to Long Island where we buried Connie di Biase in the heart of her Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, NY. \u00a0 \u00a0This morning as the university celebrates Presidents\u2019 Day with a visit of high school students exploring our world as a possibility for the next fall, a friend from Brentwood, Jeanne Ross, c.s.j. \u00a0emailed to thank me for coming to share Connie\u2019s funeral and cremation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we gave Connie a great send off. Your homily was quite poignant and we could hear the pain of your loss. I hope the days and weeks ahead will be grace-filled as you deal with the absence of your soul-mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
My sister Mary traveled with me; she was close to Connie too. \u00a0After the funeral,\u00a0we took the Port Jefferson ferry from Long Island to Connecticut, \u00a0along the coast to Madison where Connie lived and welcomed hundreds of women and men to her condominium. \u00a0She lived on the banks of the tidal estuary Hammonasset River. Listening over a meal or on the phone, Connie helped storytellers find the beauty and grace alive in their confusing and hard places. \u00a0 \u00a0It mattered on last Thursday\u2019s sun drenched afternoon that we could sit on Connie\u2019s back porch and be still, honoring the years our friend sat on the porch, listening and allowing stillness to build and beauty to deepen on the estuary and in peoples\u2019 stories.<\/p>\n
From last February, when Gerry Stockhausen\u2019s death was one month old, I found this poem. \u00a0 It was first posted on February 26, 2016.<\/a><\/p>\n Best to read the poem out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n Have a blest work week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n john sj<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday, February 20, I was gone most of last week to Long Island where we buried Connie di Biase in the heart of her Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, NY. \u00a0 \u00a0This morning as the university celebrates … Continue reading