Saturday 20 September 2014

Emma and Sister Morgan

It has been five years since Emma came home for a visit and waiting for her to make it through arrivals seemed like an age.  When she appeared I gave her the biggest hug ever, I did not want to let go!

 I sent this picture to Kath on her phone ~ she was shopping in Tesco when it came through and Mary Grace was trying to kiss the phone!



 Em and Sr Morgan who hails from Colarado.



 Meeting properly for the first time!  The last time Em saw Pip was when she was four months old.



We had an interesting journey home, Dave and I were both tired so several wrong turns were made :-)


 Still hugging, I could not believe she was "home"



 Saying Grace and serving salad and baked potatoes at 10pm!



Em and Sr Morgan stayed in the caravan.  The last time Em stopped it was in the folding camper and she mentioned this upon arrival, to which I replied that they had been upgraded and it was four star accomodation these days!


 Snapping away, again ...



 ... and again.  Photography and video editing is part of Em's work at The Home Of The Mother TV Studios.


After the wedding they spent a day in Pip's school sharing about The Home with the Key Stage 2 kids (7-11 years).  The kids asked some really good questions and it looks as if the school will partner with The Home's school in Equador.  Em shared a really sweet story over tea that night about a spanish boy having started at the school and  knowing very little English.  When they realised this was the case they spoke to him in Spanish and his face lit up!  After that they acted a translator for him when he was partaking in class discussion about their visit :-)

The week sped by really quickly and before too long, habits were washed and ironed, bags packed and passports/tickets checked.  The checking of passports is a long standing joke for the last time Em visited when Benedict was Pip's age he hid her passport as he did not want het to go!!  I had completely forgotten about that story.


 On the last day the two of them cooked potato corquettes and cheese/tuna omelettes for lunch.  We then made our way along the motorway to Ladywell Shrine where we were meeting some friends and the Sisters were also being collected by a family known to them in the Manchester area.  They would be taking the mega bus from Manchester to London the following morning, in order to attend mass at Westminster Cathedral and then fly out from Stansted later in the day:






 Canon Benedict Ruscillo was Fr Luiz' Uncle and he in turn is Benedict Luiz' God Father!  We chose the name Benedict as it is Hebrew for God's Blessing and Luiz as a second name was intentional, but we laughed when we also realised that he had been named after another priest too!



 Shrine to Padre Pio.





Our dear friends Aunty Maureen and Uncle Bryan.  They cheered our spirits when we had to say goodbye, which was the hardest thing ever and plenty of tears were shed.  As a treat they took us out for tea at a local pub near to their home and then we all attended evening mass at The Cathedral.  By then peace had been restored to my soul and I was able to give thanks for the many graces and blessings we had received that week.

God is good!
 

5 comments:

dorinalouise said...

It's so wonderful seeing Emma home with all of you. I feel tearful just thinking about how special this visit is. I know what you mean about not wanting to let go . . and Chanda was only away for a few weeks . . Five years is a long time. My grandmother took her children back with her to Germany when they were teens . . she had always promised her father that she would see him again before he died, but she didn't make it. She was heartbroken and so her husband, my grandfather, said she should go and see her cousins and stay on the farm in Germany for a year or two . . and she did, with my Mom and my Mom's brother and two sisters. Family ties are so strong and important. It's good Emma was there for the wedding.

Eva said...

It must have been hard to see her go again! You probably wish she could visit more often! Do you write or e-mail regularly? Thanks so much for sharing these pictures. Just curious, how do you wash a habit? I also saw that she has a dark one and a white one. When do you wear which?

And I was so surprised to see a statue of Padre Pio. I have never seen one in Germany, only here. So nice you could go to Mass at the end.

Pen Wilcock said...

:0) Lovely post, beautiful happy pictures xx

Jeanette said...

Just catching up with your blog. Goodness you have been busy! Love love love the wedding dress, you did a beautiful job. X

elli said...

Oh how wonderful to see her an yet how hard it must have been to say goodbye once more!!