Memoirs, a Narrative. Part Seven

Richard

Wow, this one is tough. Even after four and a half years, there are raw nerves. I don’t know where to start the conversation without rocking my world.

Okay, let’s go to religion. That is always safe.

 Richard was a devout Catholic. I am not. Richard and I seldom argued. The handful of times we did, it was because I pushed the religion thing past the point of civility. Don’t I sound wonderful? Don’t you wish you would have married me?

Richard was steeped in Catholicism: Northeastern US Catholicism. He never attended a public school.  But he was a strong supporter of public education. Like me, he felt the abortion was not his choice, so he was pro-choice, but not in favor of abortion on a personal level.  He was in favor of gay rights and gay marriage (what a surprise)! We were so alike, and yet there was this Catholic thing. I can be very dense at times.

There are two times that come to mind when I am trying to deal with Richard’s religion: a visit to Lourdes, France and Ste. Anne de Beaupré  in Québec.

Lourdes truly amazed me. The masses who truly believed. There was a parade daily where people went to the Basilique. It was close to a thousand people. Many had volunteers who pushed their wheelchair or in other ways assisted those in need. I couldn’t help but be moved.

Yes, there were tacky trinket shops and other crap lining the Boulevard de la Grotte, but when you saw the people, it was really tough to not be moved. And, yes I came home with a coffee mug hailing Bernadette of Lourdes. I even read The Song of Bernadette to know more.

And Ste. Anne de Beaupré : I never understood the importance, and I don’t know as Richard even knew it’s significance, but his mother had always wanted to go there. So in honor or Bernadette Rita Sloan Parker, we visited.

I got glimpses, peaks into what made Richard the man he was. It was terrifying and awe inspiring simultaneously. The power the church holds and the hope that it gives. A paradox about humanity.

I grew to respect Richard’s Catholicism, but not real Catholicism.