{"id":2231,"date":"2017-03-08T11:21:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2231"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:12","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:12","slug":"march-8-terri-breeden-about-time-with-her-grandmother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/03\/08\/march-8-terri-breeden-about-time-with-her-grandmother\/","title":{"rendered":"March 8 – Terri Breeden about time with her grandmother"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 8 \u00a0\u201cI was nine that summer . . . “<\/strong><\/p>\n

A mid-week break during our campus\u2019 Spring Break: \u00a0some house-keeping time: \u00a0a big load of laundry, Nordictrack in the basement work out room, tending personal emails, and most of all, at about 2:45 I\u2019ll drive up I-94 to the Blue Water Bridge into Canada to spend the evening with Bill Clarke, sj in Guelph. \u00a0I first met Bill in Omaha the summer of 1980 when he directed my silent 30 day retreat, something Jesuits do two times in a life time. \u00a0St. Ignatius called the 30 days \u201ca school of the affections,\u201d \u00a0a long time inside which you re-learn the patterns of your feelings: \u00a0 what dis-affections distract you, what affections open you to a wider, deeper world of the heart, a school of your affections. \u00a0 A wise Jesuit once told me, as I was getting ready for my second thirty days at age 40, \u201cThe thirty days are not to teach you how\u00a0to<\/u>\u00a0pray; you already pray or you wouldn\u2019t be here. \u00a0 The thirty days are to teach you how you already pray, so you can trust that in yourself, good days and hard days both.\u201d \u00a0 That summer Bill mentored me, to trust the graces of my life.<\/p>\n

Every\u00a0few months, this four hour drive gives me time with him; it\u2019s worth every mile. \u00a0Oh yes, and as I drive over the Blue Water Bridge, I sing \u201cO Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOctogenarian\u201d appeared on this list twice before, most recently February 3, 2016 – – my niece Terri Breeden\u2019s recollection of learning new words while playing cards with her grandmother on her front porch, learning of gratitude and mortality.\u00a0 Best to read out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n

Breathe a little even if it\u2019s a work day. \u00a0Back Thursday late morning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post \u00a0\u00a0\u201cOctogenarian\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was nine that summer<\/p>\n

when you taught me\u00a0satiated<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It came after precocious<\/p>\n

and pernicious, but was obviously<\/p>\n

and immediately the best word yet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We refill the drinks with extra ice, cool ourselves<\/p>\n

with\u00a0condensation,<\/em>\u00a0that slick of sweat dripping down<\/p>\n

our glasses. You proffer crackers; I decline,<\/p>\n

satiated and smug about it. You shuffle and deal,\u00a0while the sun<\/p>\n

slowly loses its glower in the Menomonee River.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I place each card carefully, fingers splayed,<\/p>\n

intent.\u00a0 I hunch a bit, slanting my anticipation<\/p>\n

toward the deck in those gnarled fingers, toward<\/p>\n

the sheen of sun on water, the road and the bridge,<\/p>\n

the cities on the far side, toward you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what we play: 66, gin rummy,<\/p>\n

cribbage, even two hands of solitaire, laid out<\/p>\n

like opposing armies or fields fresh planted, seven shirts<\/p>\n

spaced out on each side of the clothesline, falling straight,<\/p>\n

quiet in the fading heat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You hold your cards loosely,\u00a0competent<\/em>,<\/p>\n

a word from last summer, but you don\u2019t<\/p>\n

always win.\u00a0 I learn to bridge the cards without<\/p>\n

spraying any into the porch screen,<\/p>\n

dragonflies darting toward the river.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I learn about matrimony from the thin band<\/p>\n

embedded in the swollen skin of your ring finger, about eternity<\/p>\n

from the way you refer to Grandpa as though<\/p>\n

he were still here. And I learn about gratitude<\/p>\n

without noticing, even how to spell it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some things though I didn\u2019t learn, like when you taught me<\/p>\n

octogenarian\u00a0<\/em>and I thought it meant<\/p>\n

a person eight decades old, thought<\/p>\n

it meant you at your next birthday, never comprehending<\/p>\n

that it really meant<\/p>\n

you would leave me someday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Terri Breeden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 8 \u00a0\u201cI was nine that summer . . . “ A mid-week break during our campus\u2019 Spring Break: \u00a0some house-keeping time: \u00a0a big load of laundry, Nordictrack in the basement work out room, tending personal emails, and most … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2232,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231\/revisions\/2232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}