Duke of Schanzer

Cathy is feeling good today. On Tuesday we will begin our next trek to Duke Brain Cancer Center for another MRI and progress report. Everything seems the same: occasional headaches, nausea, stumbles, and confusion, blended with daily doses chemo and endless smiles. And I am blessed to have a front row seat with interactive privileges.

We had a beautiful eclipse experience on Monday, spending the day in Erie PA with Fr. Anthony Baetzold and his family. Besides being a tremendous priest and Serabu alumnus, Fr. Anthony is a superb performer on the outside grill. His cheeseburgers and country sausage were a culinary masterpiece. And then, about an hour before the eclipse began its magic, clouds gave way to a brilliant blue sky. My sister Kathleen, her friend Jan, Cathy and I, Fr. Anthony, his parents Roger and Gail, his sister Ann, and her husband Steve, put on our official cardboard eclipse glasses and witnessed a slow change of the sun into a dark-center, golden crown of light and then a reversal of the darkness, back into a full sunny day. We were fortunate spectators, and a growing feeling of unity connected us with the whole neighborhood, as shouts of excitement and local fireworks erupted all around us. God is so awesome and so beautiful.