Retreat ...

Thank you for the prayers, those who knew.

This weekend was a good opportunity to "leave town" to collect myself and re-present myself to Christ. Adoration, confession, the rosary, sharing meals with religious sisters, ... those parts were good. Parts of it were a little strange. Going with a sensible, like-minded friend somehow made the slightly irritating aspects of the weekend more tolerable.

After the retreat, Thaisa* and I hung out with alumni and friends in the area; I actually got some schoolwork done, since I was conscientiously grabbing every little segment of time that I could on either side of the retreat. But there was also time for relaxing comradery and for catching up on everyone's lives.

Today, Monday, we travelled from 5am until 1:30pm to get home. As we flew, so did the time. We had never talked in great depth before, but there has always been (as far as I know) a mutual positive regard and friendliness between us. Even though we went to the same small college, graduated in the same class, and shared most of the same friends, we still did not really know one another. From the waiting line at the check-in counter at Detroit, all the way to the last train connection in Connecticut, it was as though we caught each other up on our personal stories. That sounds kind of heavy; in a way it was. I talked about some things that I have not thought about (intentionally!) for a long time. So did she. We each knew bits and pieces of each other's stories--it was fun to fill in some blanks and laugh at some misconceptions! We shared separate memories of people that we've both known, and momentous experiences that helped form who we are. The conversations themselves were not heavy. I laughed so much. I was completely unaware of anyone else around us throughout our entire trip. Periodically, one or the other of us would apologize for talking so much. I looked forward to each leg of our trip as the day went on, because it meant more story-telling and laughter.

It's as though I acquired another sister today.


*Name has been modified from its original version to fit your screen