As some of you know I have been traveling to Kansas City several times during the last six months because of the death of my brother-in-law Bob Vincent, husband of my sister Mary. He ended his struggle with liver disease on April 7. You can read his obituary by clicking here. Marilyn and I will be in Kansas City at the end of the month for his memorial service. While this trip had some family business--doing site visits to skilled nursing facilities to prepare for what may come for my 102 year old mother--it was mostly time spent with Mom and my three sisters.
I was also able to visit with Sister Paula Thompson, OSB, my spiritual guide and friend for almost the past 35 years. She has been having some health struggles of her own but with a well functioning pacemaker, she now seems to be on the road to complete recovery. It was great to see the sparkle in her eye and hear the lilt in her voice.
On Monday, Peter, Anola and I spent the morning at Powell Gardens, Kansas city's Botanical Gardens, a wonderful community resource and asset. For me, it was a chance to experience spring as it will be in Rochester in about a month.
The most unusual plant we saw was a Mountain Papaya or often called the Mountain PawPaw. It produces fruit similar to the papaya we are used to which is a tropical fruit. You can read more about Mountain Papaya (Pawpaw) by clicking here. You can see from the photo why it attracted our attention.
On the trip out, I was able to capture some nice images from the air. Here is one on final approach to Washington National-Reagan but there are more in the Picasa album.
I went to Mother's Day Mass with Anola at St. Therese her long time parish. This is a wonderfully racial diverse parish and that is reflected in its liturgy. Below is a video I took of their Dance and Praise group doing a dance for Mother's Day after Mass was concluded.
I was also able to visit with Sister Paula Thompson, OSB, my spiritual guide and friend for almost the past 35 years. She has been having some health struggles of her own but with a well functioning pacemaker, she now seems to be on the road to complete recovery. It was great to see the sparkle in her eye and hear the lilt in her voice.
