Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Making Peace With The Past

Tuesday, December 16, 2014


I find myself still in Chicago.  I accidentally missed my bus this morning by a matter of five minutes.  So now I have to come up with my Plan B.

During my visit to Chicago I decided to visit the Loyola University campus near Rogers Park.  I attended Loyola University a number of years ago.  I even looked up a former professor of mine to see if he had any time available to chat in person.

As I made my way to the Loyola campus I decided to stop and look at the building I called home during the time I was a Jesuit scholastic here in Chicago.  I recalled my bedroom featured a patio which offered a view of nearby Lake Michigan.  In the intervening years it appears new buildings went up in the neighborhood.  I could no longer see the lake from the windows of the space I once considered my home.  Time waits for no man.

During my visit to the Loyola campus I visited the Madonna Della Strada Chapel.  The chapel is essentially lakefront property.  I lit a candle in honor of my paternal family of origin.  I asked for healing for my family.  I have done this before.  I chose a simple ritual such as lighting a candle as a means of releasing the pain of my past as well as my hope of ever being truly listened to by my father and his siblings.  I needed a ritual to commemorate the ending of my relationships with these people whose behavior I have never been able to fully understand.




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