On our way home the other day, Katelyn and I made an impromptu stop to get the car washed in Fort Washington. Jameson and Caleb were in the backseat and unaware of what was to come! We pulled in and soon the car was covered in water and soap and wax in multicolors!
As we passed to the other side, the large blowers came on and the car was whipped by forced air to dry! I remembered the old adage, “You can’t take the boy out of the man!” We all laughed and enjoyed the car wash and my boys were replete with laughter. It forced a brief conversation between Katelyn and myself wherein we reminisced about how we shared the childhood experience of going to the car wash with our dads and watching the process and being so thrilled! Somehow as we grow older, we lose that simple magic. I told my boys that every Saturday my dad would take me to the carwash where we could sit in the car and drive through it! Oh, how exciting that was! I said, “We didn’t have Disney, but we always had the car wash!” And there it is, my summertime message for you this year!
We always drop in attendance as the weather heats up. I used to get upset when so many left for vacation and places of fun, but stopped coming to Mass. The older I get and the more I enjoy my family, I realized that is selfish, too. While we should care for Saint Miriam and ensure our donations dont stop this time of year, we also need to enjoy the simpler things of life, hug our children, stare at the stars and love them unconditionally. We need to go to theme parks, and amusements, and beaches, and the shore, and makes visits to family far away. We should hitch up the RVs and boats and go! We need to camp and fish and walk in the grass without shoes. We deserve summer, but our families deserve us to be there. Yes, things will slow at the parish and school, but those memories can never be made up. Losing my mom taught me to enjoy and look up more often than I look down at my desk.
I will see you in September and during your moments back over the coming months. Please know of my prayers and best summertime wishes!
Keep us in prayer and send support our way so we are all safe and ready come fall! But, don’t forget to love! The world is so full of things to hate. Summer isn’t one of them.
Be Blessed in all you do!
Monsignor +Jim