Saint Raphael Light of An Angel

by MARGO SNYDER

Overview

Angel Raphael
Patron saint Apothecaries; Ordained marriage; blind people; bodily ills; diocese of Madison, WI; druggists; archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa; eye problems; guardian angels; happy meetings; insanity; lovers; mental illness; nightmares; nurses; pharmacists; healing; physicians; shepherds; sick people; travelers; young people; archdiocese of Seattle, Washington; Abra de Ilog, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161050385
Publisher:	M.M.Snyder
Publication date:	09/20/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	357,698
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Unremembered Gifts Padre Pio Foundation

For those what care for the elderly and Alzheimer's patients

Halloween Thanksgiving
I remember a story of a family of four visiting the grandmother at Christmas time.
The mother, the father, the son about nineteen, and the younger daughter had brought presents.
But the grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It darkens and dulls the brain. It is irreversible and terminal.
The parents made all kinds of small talk, but there was no response from the grandmother at all. She just stared into the distance. Finally they opened the presents. There was a bathrobe, slippers, shawl. The son gave her a photo album; placed it gently on her lap.
Even then there was no reaction. Finally with a sigh, the mother made some lame excuse about the turkey in the oven.
So they gave her a peck and left the room. The young man was the last to leave.
When the others had gone, he came back to his grandmother, knelt beside her and held her hand.
“Do you remember at Halloween, how you’d let me stay up late? We’d have cider and those wonderful chocolate chip cookies you used to bake. And we’d watch the horror shows together. Or the summer we had the cottage at Fairfield Beach? You’d show me the tidal pools—the shiners and minnows and ?ddler crabs. You’d recite “The Chambered Nautilus.”
“0r the summer we went to the Rangely Lakes in Maine. One day we couldn’t catch any ?sh, you said They’re asleep. Taking a nap at the bottom of the pool. We’ve got to wake them up. So let’s throw the rocks overboard.”
And sure enough in half an hour we’d caught our limit. Remember?”
But, the grandmother’s dull, distant stare didn’t change. The young man squeezed her hand and kissed it. “I just wanted you to know,
Granny that I love you.”
He kissed her cheek, got up and left. However as soon as the door closed , she stopped rocking.
Her face lost that faraway look. She glanced down at the presents; she ?ngered the photo album.
She smiled. A warm, gentle smile of remembrance. She nodded and whispered, “Yes, I remember”.
The young man, her grandson, never saw the smile of recognition.