Geralyn and I have 8 children, of whom Nathan and Elizabeth miscarried. The three who are married, thus far have had together 10 children. They all live far from us; so I am very grateful for i-phones. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Yes I also have 2 in heaven, David & Patricia. I have one grandchild, Kate, who was a stillbirth. I am blessed in that I see my 10 grandchildren on a daily basis. The eldest lad is now 15. He is a good boy but he is the only one of his circle that goes to Mass even though he attends Catholic boys school. I pray for them all. It's a difficult time in the story of faith of our country.
Our experience with children are that the boys are not the greatest at communication, though the i-phones have helped. But Rachel and Therese are on the phone with Geralyn at least 4X a wk each. "Mom, remember that recipe...Mom, one of the kids needs prayer...Mom, do you still have such and such at home?...Mom you wouldn't believe what happened!" With me, it's a little different and less frequent: " Dad, I miss you."... "What's this about that I heard on the news?"...or the most popular, "Dad, I'm really busy, could you entertain the kids with some Joe Strawberry stories for a half-hour?" Such is the tempo of long distant relationships. Praise God, the Lord, the saints, and our guardian angels are but a whisper away.
I have to laugh! Just when I finished the above post, Therese gave a call to ask Geralyn a question, but Ger is out and about, so... I entertained 4-yr-old Jack for 15 minutes! Psalm 128:Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.