Blessed Virgin Mary – Page 9 – Perpetual Adoration

February 20, 2016

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Coping With the Death of a Loved One

With the recent death of my father-in-law, I’ve had to fall back on some of the coping skills I learned and developed when I was younger. I’ve written before about the death of my 13-month-old sister, Kathryn Mary. When she died, I was 15 years old. I’ve also written about the sudden death of my cousin, Tommy LaHood, who died when I was 11. Tommy’s brother, Harry LaHood, passed away when he was 41. Harry and I were the same age and were best friends while we were growing up.

January 2, 2016

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Some Unexpected Help With A Problem

On January 1, after I went to Mass and had lunch with my family, I headed to my office with the intention of cleaning up the stacks of files, papers, magazines, audio CDs, and other miscellaneous items that had piled up during 2015.

December 19, 2015

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Would the Mother of God Ever Wear Jeans?

I’ve written before about the first time I went Christmas shopping alone with my mom. It was in 1969, when I was 12 years old. At that time, my parents had 13 children — seven boys and six girls — all of whom were living at home.

September 19, 2015

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A Perfect Line of Communication

Last week I wrote about what motivates me to write a religious article every week. After providing the definition of the word “motivate” — “to provide a reason for doing something” — I listed several reasons why I continue to write every week. After listing my reasons, I wrote:

August 29, 2015

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Just A Nice Guy

It’s been a couple of years since my three youngest daughters — Mary, Christine, and Teresa — stopped describing boys to me in the way they had always described them. Before they stopped, whenever they talked about a new boy they had met and liked, they focused on how nice he was. They would say, “He’s such a nice guy. You can’t help but like him.”

July 25, 2015

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The Key to the Side Door

Last week, I wrote about an experience I had during the summer of 1974. At that time, I was 17 years old. I had a part-time job at the Ramada Inn in downtown Peoria, and one Saturday night after work, I drove to the Shrine Mosque in downtown Peoria to see if I could catch the second half of a show that featured a professional barbershop quartet. The quartet had won the previous year’s international competition of barbershop quartets.

June 20, 2015

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Training To Be A Superhero

Have you ever heard of Benjamin Percy? He’s a 36-year-old writer who has won several awards for his novels and short stories. His newest novel, The Deadlands, was just released. He is currently adapting his previous novel, Red Moon, for Fox, and is writing a new television series — Black Gold — for the Starz cable network. His favorite current project is writing the newest version of Green Arrow for DC Comics.

May 30, 2015

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The Right Way to Begin a Marriage

In June, Georgette and I will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. We were married on June 15, 1980. Prior to our wedding, I asked my Uncle Harry LaHood if he would sing at our wedding Mass. He graciously accepted by telling me that he would be honored to sing at our wedding.

May 16, 2015

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Modern-Day Goddesses

When I was growing up during the 1960s and early 1970s, my favorite movies were Westerns. I’m not sure why. One reason may have been because I watched a lot of television with my grandfather, Tom Williams, and he liked Westerns. Another reason may have been because the heroes in Westerns were always tough, rugged, no-nonsense men who reminded me of the men on the Williams side of the family.