Yes, my young adult daughter Tintin celebrated her birthday yesterday. Simply but happily. And religiously, I believe. No, she didn't take a day off from work for she went to work yesterday. As a college adviser, employed by UVa. But during her lunchtime, she joined us. At Sacred Heart Catholic Church, in D-ville, where we, three---she, Freny and I---participated in the 1210 Mass in the church's chapel. Celebrating with us and about a dozen older, regular parishioners, I think, was Rev. Fr. Anthony Marques, Sacred Heart's pastor. Btw, one of the participants at the Mass was quite familiar to me already because, the fact is, we've attended/participated in Sunday masses before. His name is Chuck, or Charlie(?), a member of the Knights of Columbus there who, I remember, invited me to join their council one time when we first met. Another Mass attendee who, I recognized (facially) as a realtor, was there yesterday in church (because of my constant browsing of a copy of the latest edition of D-ville's Home magazine. Any clue as to why I have been perusing this magazine by a reputable realty in the region?). Her name's Carmelita, or Carmen? (I found out later that it's Carmen, not Carmelita.) Anyway, what's important is that we had the opportunity to be in communion with others at Sacred Heart yesterday. Thank God for the opportune time to receive Jesus again, via the Holy Eucharist.
Mind you, how much I've wanted to capture the mood of yesterday's Mass at Sacred Heart, with my camera on hand. I did try, though. (See photos below.)
Tintin went back to work, after Mass. She informed us she would be home in her apartment about 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. That's what she said. So, Freny and I decided to order Chinese. But the lunch special they have at Great Wall restaurant. For late lunch/early dinner. That's what we did. We also ordered shrimp lo mien with steamed rice and a spring roll for our beloved Tintin, our birthday girl. While waiting for our food, I took some photos there. I also tried to communicate with a lone diner at that moment. Instinctively, I know for sure that he's of Mexican descent. He took time to respond sheepishly to my limited Spanish greetings that went this way, "hola, mi amigo. Es comida muy bien?" (Fyi: I've taken the required four semesters of Spanish in college, in mid-70s in PI, but, shame on me for I didn't do well, I guess. The problem is, with our foreign language learning/acquisition not constantly in use everyday, verbally or in writing, we tend to lose it, I theorize. And I tend to believe it's true. I may be wrong, who knows.)
At Tintin's apartment, Freny and I ate our Chinese food. With left-over food, afterwards. At the designated time, Tintin arrived and she ate a portion of her shrimp lo mien. And a slice of her cheesecake. I ate one slice, too. Freny didn't because she was busy preparing her stuff for home. Yes, we finally decided to leave D-ville for Hampton Roads. Btw, she's scheduled to report to her school-work Wednesday, today, at 8 a.m., their first day back to school. Only for teachers/faculty and staff, not students. I learned their students won't be back to school til after Labor Day, September 2. Anyway, at about 6 p.m. yesterday, we left Tintin alone in her apartment. On her birthday. Well, initially, Freny and I thought of traveling early Wednesday morning at about 4 or 5 a.m. But it would be a tight schedule for Freny because she has to report to her school-work today. There's a possibility that she'd be late on her first day at school, that she would miss the first faculty meeting. That's why we left D-ville at about 6 p.m. Thank God, we arrived in 757 safe and sound, before ten last night.
Well, our alarm-clock-radio at home is set at 6 a.m. and I must say this is all for now. until next time around, my dear folks and friends. Take care and have a wonderful day, everyone! Enjoy the embedded photos below...
In closing, I pray, "May God bless US and keep US safe from harm always!"-chris a. quilpa, 21 August 2013
P.S. Half-way on our way back to 757 last night, I composed a simple poem entitled God Knows and as soon as Freny and I arrived in 757, I posted and shared it to our Facebook families, folks and friends, and eventually posted it on my blog. Hope you had time to peruse it. Thanks, everyone, for visiting my blog.-caq
