Greetings,
It has been two years since I have updated this website. I do not plan to
write monthly letters nor add embroideries or stories. This is simply a
letter so old friends, and perhaps some new ones, can learn some details
about me in my 82nd year.
I rejoice that the first great-grandchild, Joshua, was born two years ago
and that two more great-grandchildren are expected.
The successful total replacement of my right shoulder means that
I have five new "joints." When I take walks outside I use a walker.
My eyes and fingers allow me to keep on embroidering and reading.
These are true blessings. I am in a Low Stress exercise class but
I do not expect to travel again on bus, train or plane.
A quotation from Teilhard de Chardin's The Divine Milieu sums up my
experience of aging:
When signs of age begin to mark my body (and still more when
they touch my mind) the painful moment comes in which I suddenly awaken
to tact that I am ill or growing old. In those dark moments, O God,
grant that I may understand that it is you (provided only my faith
is strong enough) who are painfully parting the fibers of my being
in order to penetrate to the very marrow of my substance and bear me
away within yourself.
My hope for Sowing Seeds in 1995 was to freely offer up the embroideries,
poetry, stories.
My present hope is to stay in touch with those of you who respond by email.
And surely you know that you are held in a prayer
attributed to Saint Augustine:
Watch, O Lord, with those who wait, or watch
May God shield you with love,
Justine |
