I have now returned to my home in beautiful winter wonderland Minnesota after a flight last evening. My wonderful husband drove up from the farm to pick me up at the airport, and as we drove through the Cities traffic we shared how our time apart had been. Me in Pennsylvania with Nancy, Bill and family. I feel so blessed and lucky to have gotten to know much better Bill's closeknit family, who really cared for our every need at a most difficult time in their lives.
Nancy and I drove out there arriving on Friday last week, and although it was something to bring 5 kids... we had a wonderful place to stay, and food was lavished upon us, and the kids were such wonderful support for the family through this hard journey.
I got caught up in some special pictures over mostly 4-6 years ago. This one of Ruth and Mancy with their two girls, Rose and Bernadette, who are the best of cousin friends much like Bill and his cousins that he grew up with. Now I can put faces on names and see the amazing bond that they all share there. It was devastating that they lost Amy at such a young age, but the final day on hospice and out of the hospital allowed them to gather around her and say tearful goodbyes.
Gus, who is now 9, is maturing so nicely, and I really appreciated that over the last week and a half away from the farm and my husband - most Cherished Cross! Especially after the reading from mass on the 18th about how we are to take up our Cross and follow Jesus... It is wonderful that our spouses are that for us as we put Jesus first in our marriages and embrace our Most Cherished Cross from which comes LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!
It was wonderful to stop there, check on the place, spend the night with hubby, and then drive our two vehicles home in daylight through the beautiful white bright landscape of our wonderful Minnesota. As a young man said in the terminal as we waited for our flight from Pittsburg to Chicago. "Minnesota is beautiful, but cold."
Godmother, Amy, with Bernadette on the couch surrounded by purple. Bernadette did get to see her Godmother and tell her that she loved her and goodbye til they meet in heaven. Bill shared that Nancy also lost her Godmother when she was about Bernadette's age. My sister, Mary, died from cancer when Nancy was 4. I know Nancy has asked me over the years why her Godmother is not here. "Well, the Lord must want you to pray for her soul, and she for you from heaven."
Adoration chapel on the TV was with us for prayer for Amy as we daily prayed The Chaplet of Divine Mercy - "For the sake of his Sorrowful Passion. Have Mercy on Amy and on the whole world."
I had a quiet hour praying for 7 Sisters - Fr Denny for an hour on Friday was in Pennsylvania with Adoration from Singapore. Jesus, with us always and forever.
At our childhood State Park where the kids all learned to swim! Camden 4 years ago when Hallel was home for her home visit with baby Josephine.
Grandma with baby JoJo on her Baptism day close to 5 years ago. She will be 5 in May!
Susan/Hallel on her home visit 4 years ago reading to a crowd of nieces and nephews. LOVE this!
We are expecting our 20th grandchild on June 1... I wonder when Hallel will meet her as she is now living in France for the year with her Community of the Lamb!
Yes, I got carried away with the beautiful pictures on Nancy's blog...
So many prayers were said over these last time with Nancy and Bill's family. It seemed that we were in a constant state of prayer. Much for healing and comfort for her. As a hospice nurse for these last 20 years - I longed for them to discover the gift of hospice when the end is close.
The traditional antique chair of my mother's holding more and more siblings - this was on the occasion of baby Josephine #4. As Nancy said - "the chair is getting full." And I guess that the one with the 5 did not happen.
Slowly and with great sadness it was to the point that Amy asked for hospice to help her get home, and so it happened! I had the great honor of spending the overnight with her and her family, and had those rosary beads in my fingers and much prayer and was able to help with her comfort and that of her family. I was reminded of the way I look at hospice as allowing the patient to peacefully walk into the sunset of their lives along with their family.
Nancy and Hallel in Kansas City - both lived there for some years, and what a blessing that was for both! For Hallel to know and spend lots of time with the little ones, and they her. And for Nancy to fall in love with Hallel's Community of the Lamb! Yesterday, on the way to the airport Nancy and I called them in KC and left a message to continue to pray for the broken hearted family members, including Bill and Nancy and their family, and to let Hallel know in France! So comforting to know that they are praying!
Adorable Bernadette and Dominic some years back!
Nancy and Bill took the kids over to see Aunt Amy now at home on hospice and peaceful and comfortable. The day was all that I had hoped and prayed for with Father Tony coming and praying over her to start the day, and so many of the family all around her sharing and saying their goodbyes. It is a special time when they sit around her and visit and laugh and cry. Her passing was peaceful, and after the beautiful time of the nurse and family getting her "comfortable" before leaving their home. They even washed her hair and her mother lovingly brushed it. "She looked so peaceful and comfortable."
I found this gem of Pat's beloved mother, Ann! How Nancy adored her grandma Ann, and here she is making baby Dominic belly laugh! Mom ended her life at age 97 after 2 years on hospice!
I also was able to help out with Pat's mother and was consulted from time to time to share my hospice knowledge. How I love hospice and simply say that death is a part of life for all of us, so it does not seem hard or morbid to work here. I love how they help by meeting all the needs that come along, and all the different areas of our lives - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual... no matter what they are dealt with and allow the family and their loved one to walk peacefully into the end of their time in this world into the next.
https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html
A few years back with the setting sun on beautiful beach!
Baby Dominic 6 years ago! LIFE is a gift to be protected and cherished no matter the cost!
George was so good to his grandparents with lots of snuggles! Our wonderful home away from home!
Jesus, we can not understand why someone so young would be called away from this life. Give us the strength we need to go forward and trust in your loving embrace as we look to you and our Mother of heaven and earth. Jesus, we are yours. May we die to self so that we may serve without counting the cost. Be with the Bandzuch family the days and weeks ahead. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen
Amy's Obituary...
A classic from one of our family weeks in Michigan - Dominic was a baby and he is now 6 with 2 younger siblings! Ruth has had Joy since, and Maria was pregnant with Romeo here, and has had 2 others and one more on the way on June 1st - a baby girl to be friends with our baby Birdie! John has 2 now and is married to wonderful Bobbi!
At 40, Franz Kafka (1883-1924), who never married and had no children, walked through the park in Berlin when he met a girl who was crying because she had lost her favourite doll. She and Kafka searched for the doll unsuccessfully.
Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would come back to look for her.
The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter "written" by the doll saying "please don't cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures."
Thus began a story which continued until the end of Kafka's life.
During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll carefully written with adventures and conversations that the girl found adorable.
Finally, Kafka brought back the doll (he bought one) that had returned to Berlin.
"It doesn't look like my doll at all," said the girl.
Kafka handed her another letter in which the doll wrote: "my travels have changed me." the little girl hugged the new doll and brought the doll with her to her happy home.
A year later Kafka died.
Many years later, the now-adult girl found a letter inside the doll. In the tiny letter signed by Kafka it was written:
"Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way."
Embrace the change. It's inevitable for growth. Together we can shift pain into wonder and love, but it is up to us to consciously and intentionally create that connection.
Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would come back to look for her.
The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter "written" by the doll saying "please don't cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures."
Thus began a story which continued until the end of Kafka's life.
During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll carefully written with adventures and conversations that the girl found adorable.
Finally, Kafka brought back the doll (he bought one) that had returned to Berlin.
"It doesn't look like my doll at all," said the girl.
Kafka handed her another letter in which the doll wrote: "my travels have changed me." the little girl hugged the new doll and brought the doll with her to her happy home.
A year later Kafka died.
Many years later, the now-adult girl found a letter inside the doll. In the tiny letter signed by Kafka it was written:
"Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way."
Embrace the change. It's inevitable for growth. Together we can shift pain into wonder and love, but it is up to us to consciously and intentionally create that connection.
Talk about Most Cherished Cross - here it is!
"CATHOLIC MARRIAGE & THE CROSS OF CHRIST
A beautiful old European tradition we are seeing quite regularly again in our church 
IN the town of Siroki-Brijeg in Herzegovina not one single divorce has been recorded among its 13,000 inhabitants. Not one single family has broken up in living memory. For centuries, because of the pressure of the Turks and then the Communists, the people suffered cruelly as their Christian faith was always threatened. They knew through experience that salvation comes through the cross of Christ. That is why they have indissolubly linked marriage to the Cross of Christ. They have founded marriage which brings forth human life, on the Cross, which brings forth divine life.
When a couple is preparing for marriage, they are not told that they have found the ideal partner. No! What does the priest say? “You have found your cross. And it is a cross to be loved, to be carried, a cross not to be thrown away, but cherished.” If most young couples these days were told this, they would be struck dumb. But in Herzegovina, the Cross represents the greatest love and the crucifix is the treasure of the home.
When the bride and groom set off for the church, they bring a crucifix with them. The priest blesses the crucifix, which takes on a central role during the exchange of vows. The bride places her right hand on the crucifix and the groom places his hand over hers. Thus the two hands are bound together on the cross. The priest covers their hands with his stole as they proclaim their vows to be faithful according to the rites of the Church.
The bride and groom do not then kiss each other, they rather kiss the cross. They know that they are kissing the source of love. Anyone close enough to see their two hands joined over the cross understands clearly that if the husband abandons his wife or if the wife abandons her husband they let go of the cross. And if they abandon the cross they have nothing left. They have lost everything for they have abandoned Jesus. They have lost their source of life, hope and happiness.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds bring the crucifix back and give it a place of honour in their home. It becomes the focal point of family prayer, for the young couple believes deeply that the family is born of the Cross. When trouble arises or if a conflict breaks out, it is before this cross that they will seek help. They will not go to a lawyer, they will not consult a fortune teller or an astrologer, they will not rely on a psychologist to solve the problem. No, they will go straight before Jesus, before the cross. There they will kneel, and in front of Jesus they will weep their tears and pour out their hearts, and above all exchange their forgiveness. They will not go to sleep with a heavy heart because they will have turned to Jesus, the only One who has the power to save.
They will teach their children to kiss the cross every day, and not to go to sleep like pagans without having thanked Jesus first. As far back as they can remember, Jesus has always been the friend of the family, respected and embraced. They know that Jesus is holding them in his arms and that there is nothing to be afraid of, and their fears melt away in their kiss to their divine Lord. "
The letter that Susan/Hallel sent to Nancy on the occasion of her engagement to Bill 11 years ago this spring!
Nancy was engaged to Bill Bandzuch on April 10, 2010... We are all so happy for her as she has waited long for her Catholic man to come into her life. She had stood by her values and as a result it was especially sweet and special when she joyfully accepted Bill's proposal! We all gathered in Maria and Joe's back yard to help them celebrate that afternoon minus her sister in KC... Little Sister Hallel. We called her and she spoke to each one of us and even her neice and nephews ! A month later Nancy found this letter from her sister in the mailbox. It was mother's day and she called me to read it to me over the phone. I was blown away and at first thought how crazy it was that a young girl,who had answered the call to remain chaste and be a little sister had so much insight into marriage! But when I realized that she is now the "bride of Christ" it now makes all the sense in the world! I would like to once again share this powerful and wise letter here... Nancy, Look I am writing you a letter... aren't you impressed? Well, you better be because both you and I know how often this happens. I am writing to tell you now extremely excited I am about your engagement to Bill. I have to admit, when I got the news I wasn't really shocked but that night as it sunk in during adoration and the next day during mass I was so happy. My heart overflowed with joy for you. How beautiful to know that you have found your... most cherished cross. While I have never had the experience of being married, from what I hear is that he will truly be your cross. But not your cross as human eyes look at it, as a thing to run away from, as a thing of torture but rather as that which is truly the tree of life. It is only when clinging to the cross that one can truly live, it is the source of all life and of all love. Your marriage to Bill will be this, not something to run away from when it gets hard and when it hurts, but something to hold tight to, especially when it hurts because it is in this that you will find life and love. Know that it is through your marriage that Jesus wants to show you his great love for you and also that the best example that you can give to the world of Christ's love is a marriage lived in truth. So, in other words, know that I am so happy for you and that I love you a whole lot. Know that you are in my prayers during this crazy time of wedding planning; that you may not go crazy but rather learn to love each other better and that you may both have great joy and great peace. Remember to pray for me too! God Bless, Your little Sister Hallel
Danielle Rose
True LOVE - The Cross!!!!
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