The 37th Year of Sly and a Sung High Mass

First off, I want to wish my husband, Eli, a very happy 37th birthday! I am very sorry he has to work a 12 hour shift on overnights today. This hardworking man, who threw himself a birthday party on his 25th, declared today "is just another day". Having been with him since he was 23, in a way I feel like we've "grown up" together. We can now companionably shake our heads at some of the stupid things we've done in the past. That may or may not include jumping off of steep embankments into deep water and hiding in bushes from each other.

Eli through the years...in case anyone wondered where Ian got his blond hair.

Speaking of hiding in bushes, that is exactly how Eli got his nickname, Sly Dog. It's even tattooed on his shoulder, with a pit bull crowning the words. The story I've heard is that Eli was playing hide-and-seek at a friend's house, and was sneaking around in the bushes by the front porch (where the adults were sitting) to avoid being seen. One of the adults called down to him, "What are you doing down there, Sly Dog?" It stuck in a big way. I'm not even sure if the friends who call him that know why.

Eli will not get a 23-page story like the boys did for their birthdays. While I think it'd be a (mostly) fun and entertaining write-up, he's been either at work or sleeping for the majority of the last five days and I haven't had time to properly interview him. He also may not like the idea, which must be taken into consideration. To summarize, a few of Eli's favorite things include steak, cocktails/beer, bowling, and golf.

Happy Birthday dear husband!

Today, as a farewell gift from the priests of St. Thomas Aquinas seminary, we were given a sung High (Latin) Mass at our little mission chapel. Thinking about this has me in tears, because the reality of it is just sinking in. The seminary is relocating to Virginia this year, to a beautiful new site that is in the last stages of being completed. Since I was 14 and first attended Mass at the chapel, the priests from the seminary would come down to say Mass for us and minister to our needs. We've been so blessed to have the seminary as close as it has been. It was such a happy time today, with three priests present who have been there through some of my high school years and all my married life. Fr. Iscara was there from the very beginning, the rough start of attending Mass in hotel rooms until we raised enough money to buy a church. He also baptized Liam. Fr. Abbet sung Mass today, and was our first pastor after Eli and I were married. He baptized our first two babies, Aidan and Gavin. And then Fr. Wood, who counselled me through some of the darkest, hardest times of my married life, and gave Aidan his first Holy Communion, was there. He sat with us in the pew during the sermon today. I'm not sure when or if I'll see them again. I realized with a shock today how much we take our priests for granted. I wish I would've taken more time today to talk to each one. I had the opportunity, but I'm a horrible speaker and didn't grasp the gravity of the moment. The right words seldom come out of my mouth when I need them to. And so, I will write them each a letter.

I recorded a clip of part of the sung High Mass so you can hear what we were treated to. It begins with the Kyrie Eleison. The audio clip I originally recorded wouldn't upload here so I rerecorded it "80's-style", this time taking a video of the audio. I'll get there.... :)

After Mass we had a potluck in the church basement. Children played ball outside while seminarians coached. I visited with a great group of friends.

After people were finished eating the seminarians serenaded us with a couple songs. Here I only got a small clip of "Salve Regina", but it's a sample of the great voices we were treated to today (in case the other clip doesn't work). It was a beautiful day.