Why do you want to be friends with a couple of 80-year olds, anyway?

I've been thinking of what to write in my thank-you notes to the folks who came to my HomeWarmer. I remember a conversation I had with Jack a few days ago. I had postponed the party because he and his wife would be in Europe on the first date I picked. I so wanted them to be at the HomeWarmer, which would be a Home Blessing followed by a Shindig.

“Why do you want to be friends with these 80 year olds?” he laughed. 

Why indeed. I've been thinking about it. Life has been ugly. Neglect and abuse formed me. And I searched and searched for something so different. I looked for the values and tradition that I felt missing deep in my core.

When I entered the Church, after I was baptized and confirmed on that beautiful night in 2007, I came to realize that I had always had The Perfect Father and The Perfect Mother. And They gave to me, through the Church, the family I had longed for. And those 80-year olds are part of that family.