With pictures of the wonderful grandchildren that have given me such joy and wonder at the beauty and "gift" of life, and the news from Nancy and Bill that they are expecting a boy in June... so many prayers and hopes are surrounding that little one in the womb! I got the news today that yesterday Bernard Nathanson died. He is well known to me from my work in Birthright for the last 32 years, and I have viewed him in the movie he made called the Silent Scream many times! He was responsible for 75,000 abortions before he realized that it was truly a life and watched on ultrasound the baby trying to escape the abortionist's suction catheter that tore the baby to pieces and removed it from the womb... he saw the mouth open in a silent scream of pain as it was killed! He became prolife and later after 10 years became Catholic...
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/bernard-nathanson-dead-at-84/ This is the link to the entire article about his journey including doing an abortion on his own child that his girlfriend was carrying in the 60s...
I would like to include a part about his journey to the Catholic Church - Baptized Catholic
"For more than a decade after he became pro-life, Nathanson described himself as a Jewish atheist, but in December of 1996 he was baptized a Catholic by Cardinal John O’Connor in a private Mass with a group of friends in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He also received confirmation and first Communion from the cardinal.
About his baptism, he said, “I was in a real whirlpool of emotion, and then there was this healing, cooling water on me, and soft voices, and an inexpressible sense of peace. I had found a safe place.”
Among those concelebrating the Mass was Father C. John McCloskey, an Opus Dei priest who had instructed Nathanson in the faith over a number of years.
“He was a pro-life prophet,” Father McCloskey said in a recent Register interview. “He saw the whole culture of death coming, and knew that abortion was just the tip of the iceberg.”
Nathanson visited Father McCloskey periodically over the course of a decade, the priest said, and one day in 1994 announced that he wanted to become a Catholic. After his baptism, Father McCloskey said, “He practiced the faith, he frequented the sacraments, and spoke about his Catholicism unabashedly.”
Nathanson later said that he was drawn closer to God while viewing a massive Operation Rescue event, when hundreds sat down in front of a New York Planned Parenthood building, blocking traffic. The sight of so many pro-lifers selflessly sacrificing their selves and risking arrest made him realize that they must be answering a higher call, he explained.
In an epilogue to the second edition of The Hand of God, Father McCloskey called the book “one of the more important autobiographies of the twentieth century,” which documents “man’s inhumanity both to humanity and to his personal self, and the possibility of redemption.”
Another strong factor in his conversion was the book Pillar of Fire, by noted psychiatrist Dr. Karl Stern, who tells of his own journey from Judaism to the Catholic Church. Nathanson studied briefly under Stern in medical school, though at that time he did not know about Stern’s conversion. It was only years later, when Nathanson read Pillar of Fire that he learned off his former professor’s religious views.
Nathanson’s godmother for baptism was Joan Andrews Bell, who had served more than a year in jail for blocking the entrances to abortion businesses.
She said she spoke to Nathanson by phone in February 2011, when he only had the strength to speak a few sentences. “He said he was praying for us, and I told him we love him and pray for him, too,” she said.
“He will be remembered as a very strong advocate for the babies,” she continued. “One factor stood out, knowing him over the years, and that was that he had a deep pain for what he had done in terms of abortion. I remember there were periods he was fasting; he underwent huge amounts of fasting to make up for it.”
She said that he had “a deep and tender heart,” and that once he saw the truth about abortion, he was determined to stop it. “He was like St. Paul, who was a great persecutor of the Church, yet when he saw the light of Christ, he was perhaps the greatest apostle for the Gospel. Dr. Nathanson was like that after his conversion. He went all around the world talking about the babies and the evils of abortion. Being his godmother was such an amazing thing, to see him come to Christ.”
Nathanson was married and divorced three times before being married in the Church by Father McCloskey soon after becoming a Catholic. His wife, Christine, survives him, as does his grown son, Joseph, by an earlier union."
Jesus, we thank you for people like Bernard, and his ability to see the light and truth and to fight for LIFE! May he find peace in heaven after the guilt he has carried within his heart and soul for all these years. May you intercede for all those innocent lives that are in danger through the light that Bernard fought to bring into the world after finding the Truth even though it was too late for many... Jesus,we trust in you and may his soul rest in peace. Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb
In his 1996 autobiography The Hand of God, he told the story of his journey from pro-abortion to pro-life, saying that viewing images from the new ultrasound technology in the 1970s convinced him of the humanity of the unborn baby. Outlining the enormous challenge of restoring a pro-life ethic, he wrote, “Abortion is now a monster so unimaginably gargantuan that even to think of stuffing it back into its cage … is ludicrous beyond words. Yet that is our charge — a herculean endeavor.”
The cats posed on the back of the couch - too late for the painting we did of them this morning. They have been a good source of fun and entertainment for the kids while they have been here. With spring coming and plans for them to move... the gray one will be going to a home in Wisconsin in a few weeks. She is a female. Herbie the orange male is my favorite and hopefully will have a long life here. 
Little Dave found Ernie and had fun as he played "Rubber Duckie" over and over. They are wonderful kids and it has been great fun to have them here. The passing around of bugs like cold after cold has been part of this winter that has forced us to live in our big farmhouse without much time away from each other. Tomorrow I will work the night shift at the nursing home, and then we hope to see Nancy and Bill for about 24 hour visit! A going away party for our gray cat, Ally,is on the schedule for Saturday night! Any excuse to get together as a family and visit and share a meal! How we love the blessings of our 3 generations and if Pat's mom can make it out... it could be amazing 4 generations! Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of FAMILY! Jesus, we trust in you! 
