Servants of Mary

Thank you to everyone for your kind words, support, and loads of prayer for my grandmother. She was moved to River Region Hospice House in Harahan, LA from the ICU a few days ago. My mother has gone down to New Orleans to help the family take care of my grandmother during her final days.

God is listening to all of your prayers! My aunt "heard" of a congregation of Sisters who minister to the sick and dying. She tracked them down in New Orleans and contacted them. These Sisters are in high demand for many reasons by many people, and so my family didn't know if they would be able to spare one of their 12 to attend my grandmother during the night.

The Mother Superior of the convent consented to visit my grandmother in the hospice house. After that visit, the Mother Superior simply said that she would have one of her Sisters come over that very night.

How fantastic is that! God is great! Now my grandmother can have someone by her side 24 hours a day.

The Sisters sleep during the day and they have the patient's family members pick them up in the evening from the convent. After spending the night with the patient, the Sisters ask to be returned to the convent by 6:00 AM the next morning. On top of all that, they are all licensed or certified: CNAs, LPs, or RNs.

Here's a blurb from their website:

"Our congregation was founded on August 15, 1851 in Madrid, Spain by St. Maria Soledad Torres Acosta. She was a saint of great vision who placed her complete trust in God and instilled within her daughters this same spirit of love. We go out to the abandoned, sick and dying, discovering the face of Christ in all we serve with the sole desire of alleviating the suffering of others for the love of God. Our mission is to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the sick, preferably in their own home environments, free of charge. This we believe is the uniqueness of our mission and calling."

While they do not charge for their service, they receive donations. Please consider donating to these Sisters who are doing a great service to God and our family.

They can only accept checks made out to "Servants of Mary." You can send a check to:

Sister Magdalena Quintero, S. de M.
Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick
5001 Perlita Street
New Orleans, LA 70122-1999

Thanks again to everyone as the prayers are needed.

My Grandmother's Passion

My grandmother did an amazing job handing down the faith to her family. As the matriarch on my mother's side, she handed down valuable traditions and truths of Our Lord through the Church. My own mother followed suit and now Frances and I are continuing the transmission of faith with the guidance of Holy Mother Church.

In the past months, my grandmother, Rose Goss Robinson, has been in and out of the hospital going through difficult inpatient stays. In the last few weeks, she didn't get to go home as she bounced from the hospital to a nursing home and back.

Currently, she's in an ICU and they're not giving her much time to live. She suffers from infections, pain, a large regimen of medication, and being in an ICU. The Catholic Church teaches that God lives in every soul and He is present in our suffering. I know He's with my grandmother, consoling her through these difficult moments.

I ask for prayers for my grandmother that the grace which pours from His Sacred Heart through the Immaculate Heart of Mary may fill the cup of my grandmother's soul and grant her the peace that has been promised to all of God's children. I also ask for prayers for our family who love her very much.

St. Ann, pray for us.

Teresa's hilarity

While my mom was visiting (in honor of Teresa's birthday) she treated us to a nice dinner at Red Lobster. At the end of the meal, Teresa treated us to peals of laughter and ear-piercing shrieks:

Teresa's first birthday

In honor of the first anniversary of Teresa's birth, we had a small party with family and Godparents on Sunday afternoon. Teresa was in great spirits. She enjoyed everyone's attention and gave out lots of smiles. She enjoyed squishing and eating her piece of cake. And she enjoyed opening and playing with her gifts.

Later in the afternoon she received more birthday greetings from far-away family via Skype. She also impressed us by standing on her own for a few more seconds and taking two steps in a row when Papa pulled his finger out of her grasp. So far she's only chosen to let go of her support once - the handful of other times she's stood or stepped on her own have been on accident. But the real thing can't be far off!

Some more pictures from her birthday: