Death is the Beginning of a new Life

          Recently, there have been a lot of deaths in the family. My grandfather (my mom’s dad) was on a fishing trip. He was walking around in the halls at night and slipped and fell. Hit his head and had a seizure. The boat took three hours to get back to land and to a hospital. The thing is he was on a blood thinning medication, so he lost a lot of blood. This was far from home. The hospital flew him to a hospital in Los Angeles California, where he lived. He was unconscious. We drove down there from Northern California. During our visit, he passed away in my Grandma Becker’s arms. She was, and still is, devastated. He died on November 27, 2010.

            About half a year later, my great grandfather (the father of my Grandma Becker) suddenly passed away of old age in his sleep. The following year, his wife, my great grandmother died also of old age. This was hard for my Grandma Becker, having lost her husband and parents in two years.

            On Thanksgiving Day last year (November 27 2014, the death anniversary of Grandpa Becker, my great grandma on my dad’s side passed away. (my Grandpa Kalinowski’s mom) Her funeral was recently.

            The next month, my aunt died suddenly. (my mom’s older sister, and Grandma Becker’s oldest daughter) This was probably the most devastating for my Grandma Becker, having lost her husband and mother and father and now her daughter. My Aunt Amy apparently had a brain tumor that no one knew about, and she suddenly died on December 11, 2014. Everybody quickly flew out to Tennessee, where she lived with her husband and three children. Her poor children and husband. I can’t imagine what they must feel like. 

     Even though He may take some people, God is not doing this as a punishment. He loves us and the ones He brings into His Kingdom. Those of us on Earth are just not ready yet. This song, by Chris Tomlin is about following Jesus to Heaven. click here

About my Family

     I like to consider myself a good babysitter because when I was younger there was always a baby in the house. And if that one grew up, another one came. I loved it. I still love it. My youngest sibling will be four in May, her name is Anne. She’s fun to be around. The next one, Michael, will be six in July. He and Anne are great friends. They play with their little princesses and knights figurines. Sarah, the eight year-old is next in line. I think she’ll be a chemist when she grows up. She’s always mixing up the shampoo and soaps and lotions together. She likes to be outside. We live out in the country (in Northern California) on five acres, so there’s plenty of room to explore. Elise is eleven. She’s more of an artsy type. Sewing, cake-decorating, drawing, that kind of stuff. Then there’s me. But I’ll just skip over me for now and come back later. My two older siblings, Leah and Brandon, are freshmen in college. (They’re not twins, in case you’re wondering.) Leah is eighteen. Oh my goodness, she’ll be nineteen in April. She went to a college in North Dakota (University of Mary), it’s pretty cold out there compared to California! But she likes the school. Brandon, the oldest, is twenty years old. He went to San Diego for college. (John Paul the Great, or JP Catholic University) This is a film production school. He wants to be a film director. That’s why he took a year off, to do some filming. He is the one we all go to when some technical difficulty arises.  Finally, we come back to me. Well, like I said earlier, I love babysitting, skiing, volleyball, swimming, and vaulting. My favorite animal is a horse. (too bad we don’t have one ) It’s hard to describe my personality. I’m a mix of everybody I guess. Growing up, particularly when I was about five, with Leah, I would play tea party or dolls. With Brandon, we’d do magic shows or play hospital and wrap Grandma in toilet paper. With Elise, since she was only about one year old, we would jump in her crib and pretend it was a castle. We lived in a little house on a little yard in a little neighborhood. We moved to the country when I was six. I loved living there in the neighborhood, even though I probably wouldn’t now, with so many more people in the family. But it was great in that little neighborhood. I have many good memories of it. My older siblings always took great care of me. One time Brandon and I went on a walk together over to the dead end of the court. Right before the end though, there was a house with a very large dog that always barked at people. That dog was my worst fear. Brandon and I would always walk a little bit faster when we passed that house. :) 

Patience is a Virtue

     I took a lifeguard training session this week. Yesterday I passed all four tests: the lifeguard skills tests, the lifeguard written test, the CPR/First Aid written test, and the CPR skills test. I applied for a job as a lifeguard at the city pool for this summer. I haven't yet gotten my interview, but I am preparing for it.

The reasons I believe that I will be a good lifeguard are:

1. I am a good babysitter: I am good with children, I adore them! I am focused and attentive. I find dangerous things on the floor before the baby puts it in her mouth, and I'm not the kind of babysitter that plays on her phone the whole time. (For goodness' sake, you're there to play with the kids, not be on your phone!) 
2. I am responsible: I get my homework in on time, I am not late to meetings...well, that's not true, but I wouldn't ever be late if I knew how to drive myself places...(one more year, Abby, just one more year :) 
3. I am good at enforcing rules: when I babysit and the kid is playing with a knife, I take it away. :) I do not let the children take advantage of the fact that their parents are not there, but I am not mean about it either, I play with the kids, and they like me. 
4. I am quick to spot danger. (Same thing about the dangerous stuff on the floor that babies like to eat.) So if someone is having a hard time swimming, I can help them before they start drowning. Prevention is important.
5. I am patient. If some random person is mad at me for telling him not to dive in shallow water, I won't yell back, this would only make things worse. I stand my ground and calmly reply that he might hurt his head if he dives there. I would explain the rules and why they are dangerous, instead of just bossing people around. If they see the reason for the danger, they will understand the reason for the rule.

     Number five reminds me of something. This is what we, as Catholics need to know. For example, when I went to the Walk For Life in San Francisco last year, there were a few protesters (as usual), but they were shouting mean things at us. What did we do? We kept on walking. Not one person yelled back. Not one. We fight for what's right. We speak life.

This reminds me of a song by TobyMac: Click here

Defend Life

        It's Good Friday, the day Jesus died. Lots of people die every day around the world. It's important for us to pray for the dead, especially the poor souls in Purgatory. Some people die from disease, others from lack of food or drink, some die by drowning, still others from old age, and some people die just because someone else doesn't want them. This is murder, and it is very sad. There is a law protecting this, because we all know murder is very bad. 

        However, murder has become legal. Yes, murder of the precious baby inside a mother's body is legal. This is called abortion. And about 1.21 million babies are aborted per year. Why is this legal? I do not know. People do not see how this murder, but it is. Some may say a fetus is not a baby, but I say it is. It breathes, it has a heart beat, it eats, it lives. There is a human being inside a mother's womb. How can one say there isn't? 

        In the Constitution of the United States, "all men are created equal," and we have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We have the right to life. Everyone has the right to live. Why take away God's greatest gift (life) from one who has just received it? 

        These babies are too young to speak for themselves, so we need to speak for them. We need to show these mothers that what they carry is not a burden. It is a gift, and no one should be selfish enough to throw away a gift from God. So let us pray for an end to abortion on this Good Friday, when Jesus died for our sins.

        This prayer for the aborted babies, I received from Catholic Online:

Heavenly Father, 

Thou hast given us the gift of freedom 

to love and to follow in Thy ways and commands. 

Some parents choose to abuse this freedom 

by destroying the gift of life 

which Thou hast given to their offspring. 

Please forgive those who destroy human life 

by aborting their unborn babies. 

Give these unborn children the opportunity 

to enjoy Thee for all eternity, 

if it according to Thy ordinance. 

Assist me in being one in solidarity with Thy little ones 

by taking to heart the words of Thy Son, 

"whatever you did for one of these least brothers of Mine, 

you did for Me." (Mt. 25:40) 

Therefore, allow me today, Father, 

to adopt spiritually an unborn child 

and to offer my prayers, works, 

joys and sufferings for that little one, 

so that child will be able to be born and live 

for Thy greater honor and glory. 

We pray this in Jesus' name, 

in union with the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever.

Amen.

        Here is a song that I really love. The Afters are a Christian band who sing this song. This song, about how life is such a beautiful gift from God can be found in the movie October Baby:

Click here