Amazing what germs from a little baby can do to two big grown-ups. We’re down for the count, and while I feel my energy slowly returning, what’s left has to go to writing an article that’s due tomorrow. But, in the meantime, Michael’s somehow managed to post two nice reflections on the first two O Antiphons..

Update: Talk about a miserable day. Both Michael and I sick as dogs (thank goodness we went to Mass yesterday), and two little boys full of beans. Who, as Joseph realized with delight about 5pm, had never been out of their pajamas all day. Katie was a help, but she had previous obligations already laid out, but when she was here, she was invaluable. I can’t remember the last time I was this ill.

But we will  buck up and not complain. This past week has been a week of dying in our area. The little girl I blogged on earlier in the week is still missing, but the day after that story broke with more intensity around here, a mother and her three daughters were found dead – the mother beaten, the little girls strangled – by their father. The oldest little girl was in the 4th grade at Katie’s school. It was heartbreaking to hear Katie describe the little girl’s classmates coming into the memorial Mass at school. How does a 9 year old process this?

A terrible tragedy – the Mass of Christian burial was at St. Patrick’s, and the bishop presided. The two older girls will be buried together in one casket, the mother and her baby in another – in Mexico. Such horror. May they rest in peace now.

And then, word came yesterday afternoon that one of the best teachers Katie had ever had – Debbie Jur – had passed away early Saturday morning. She had left teaching last year, suffering, I believe, from stomach cancer, which is what finally took her. She was 47.

Ms. Jur was a science teacher, and even though I only met her once or twice, she was still a legend in our home. Her fascination with science was more than academic – it was her entire life, and she communicated that holistic passion to her students, the deep interest in the world and its ways and the miracle of how it all works. It was, I always felt, an invaluable gift especially to give a girl, to the point at which Katie was even talking of becoming a chemist! And of course, she didn’t have to teach in Catholic schools, with their lower pay, but she did, God bless her. What I told Katie is that the lesson here is the value – the inestimable value – of pouring out oneself for others, for sharing your passion, and touching lives.