November - The Month of the Holy Souls

There are so many beautiful posts out there in Blogdom about the Holy Souls. Check out St. Louis Catholic for one very nice piece on Suffering Souls. It gave me pause to think again of loved ones and friends who have gone on before me.

The Month of the Holy Souls has very personal meaning for me this year, having just lost my dad. There is much that I can do for him and indeed for all the Holy Souls, by way of prayers, and penances on their behalf.

We all bear crosses, some are visible, some are unapparent to others, but they all have eternal value if only we will offer them up. If we imagine our loved one being released into the light of Eternal Beatitude in the presence of Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother, in part due to our own offerings and prayers, does it not make the cross-bearing here on earth more meaningful, more tolerable?

Offering our sufferings is but one way to help the faithful departed though. CatholicTradition.org has a very nice list of many charitable acts we can do for them. Click here and scroll down.

Remember the Holy Souls in Purgatory especially this month!

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Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.

Trying Something New

I am very happy to say my appointment with our Family doctor went well. He has prescribed for me a drug called Naltrexone, with the hope that it will indeed halt the progression of my MS.

Naltrexone is a drug that’s been around for years, but it was not originally intended to treat auto-immune diseases like MS. However, a couple of physicians in the U.S. have found this drug, in a low dose form, to be effective in patients with MS and other disorders.

After years of being on interferon injections three times per week, and watching my MS continue to progress all the while, I am thrilled that my doctor will prescribe it for me (not all docs, including my own neurologist, are willing to prescribe it). This is an oral med to be taken nightly before bed…. Hooray! No more needles!

While the research done on Naltrexone for MS is, at this time, limited, the anecdotal evidence is abundant, and much of it is glowing. MSers are finding not only is it slowing down and even halting disease progression, many are experiencing symptom relief as well.

I am hopeful; at the same time, I am guarded. I know this medicine is not a cure for MS. I also know what it is to be disappointed when a promising therapy does little to help me. Will I be one writing a glowing testimony of my improvement on Naltrexone? Only God knows, and the outcome is truly in His hands. Still, I can’t help but be enthusiastic to begin.

I am so thankful for this doctor we have. Without him I don’t know if I would have had the opportunity to try Naltrexone. But what makes it even better, is that he is a faithful Catholic who cares for our family body and soul.

As he gave me the prescription and sent me on my way, the last thing he said to me was, ‘You will be in my prayers.’

Now that’s good medicine!

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St. Jude, Pray for Us!

Prayer Request

Tomorrow I will be seeing my doctor to discuss a new approach drug-wise to treating my MS, in yet another effort to find something that will stop the train.

I, with my husband, go into this appointment with hope and prayers, and ask you, dear readers, to join us with your prayers.

May God's holy will be done!

Thank you... and may Our Blessed Lord reward you for your charity!

Pachelbel's Canon

One of my favorite pieces of classical music is Pachelbel's Canon in D. Whether played on piano, organ or strings, I think it is simply beautiful. It was this piece played on organ to which I walked down the aisle at our wedding 10 years ago.

Well, now the boys are playing Pachelbel's Canon on the piano. Their somewhat simpler version is in the key of C rather than D, probably because they are just learning to play 16th notes, and why throw the black keys in on top of their first 16th-note runs?

It is a delight for me to listen to them, even when they're trying to master such repetitive tunes as "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?", but when a piece like the Canon comes along, I feel like they are really playing the piano!

Last week the boys' teacher assigned the first 12 measures of the piece. One of my boys is the more reluctant pianist, practicing only as he must. He accomplished the assignment well enough, his teacher was pleased, and this week he has the next 12 measures to work on. My other boy sees every piece as a challenge to master well, and quickly if he can. He practices more of his own accord, especially if it's a piece requiring more study, as this one does. With his extra effort, he was able to play the entire piece for his teacher this week! His next assignment is to polish it, working on the dynamics throughout the piece.

As I have said before in this space, we are very blessed to have piano music in our home. As the boys progress, they will have the opportunity to play a world of beautiful music, like Pachelbel's Canon. And as we pray before each piano lesson, may it all be to the glory of God!

St. Cecelia, Patroness of Musicians, Pray for Us!

Question of the Day

I know I've been scarce in these parts of late; just trying to juggle life and homeschooling and, well, life.

But today I am returning to blogdom to ask a quick question, and that is:

Where in the world do all the pencils go???

We started our school year with three large boxes of No. 2s, and an equally large supply of extra pencil-tip erasers, and today we are out of all them!

Somewhere in this house we must have a pile of pencils and erasers, but I haven't seen it if there is. You would think it would be noticeable.

Am I the only homeschooling mom with this problem??

(Annoyed sigh).... Target, here we come. Again.

Home Again

We returned to St. Louis Saturday evening after a little more than a week in Washington (state). Though it was a trip that one month ago we had no idea we would be making, to be with family to mourn and bury my dad, it was a good trip. As all visits with my family go, it was way too short.

My head is teeming with bloggables, from the passing of my dad and the funeral, to visiting with friends and extended family not seen for 20+ years, from the ever-breathtaking views of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River gorge to our youngest son turning 8 on the trip and losing a tooth in the Portland airport, from Mom's flat-out gorgeous flower garden to the book I began reading on the airplane trip out and can hardly put down (Dracula, by Bram Stoker)... and what stress and hot weather can do to a body with MS.

But on arriving home I realize regular life must resume, and so I quickly type this from my school computer while the boys take a brief play-break outside with Lucy, their buff-colored cocker spaniel that they missed for 8 days. I don't know that I'll find the time to blog about any of the above items. Regular life, homeschooling and all that goes with it, keeps my blogging to a minimum it seems, so we'll see.

But, to sum up our visit, I am more grateful for dear family and friends today than I ever have been before. Our family is truly blessed. Our Lord has taken my dad into eternity and, I think, left the rest of us closer.

I'm glad to be home, but the lump I always get when saying good-bye hasn't quite gone yet. Love you, Mom!

Dear Dad - 1934 - 2009

My Dad passed away Tuesday night. Our Lord, in His infinite mercy, took him swiftly and peacefully.

Your prayers have been, and are, deeply appreciated.

HSMom and Family