CAPA Corner

    My 92-year-old mother has decided it is time to move into a retirement center.  She has lived her entire life in Richland County, Ohio including 45 years in her present home, a wonderful house shared with my father until his passing.  The house was built on the family farm where my father lived as a child.  The retirement center is across the road from where my mother’s grandparents owned land.  Her roots are deep and wide as she prepares for this new season of her life.
    “For everything there is a season…” writes Ecclesiastes.  My mother is moving into this season with gusto, wanting to find good homes for the many things in the house gathered over the decades of her life.  She has keepsakes from childhood, youth, and adulthood to ponder.  
    And yet, she is taking great joy in learning what people collect and searching in her treasure chest of her house until she finds a perfect match.  If you collect green glass, no problem.  There is something in the basement for you.  If you attended Notre Dame, guess what?  She has a ring from a former suitor during college days.  And so the story goes.
    For my mother, this season is marked with a generous spirit and a willingness to share the bounty of a life well-lived. So, what season do you find yourself?  Hopefully, it is a season to give God thanks for blessing you on your journey, and yet a season to be a blessing to others.
Rev. Robin McCullough-Bade, 
St. Augustine Episcopal Church