Mary has been found.
I had assumed that Mary was simply out of vogue and not considered front-lawn-worthy anymore - replaced by lawn gnomes and stolen sprinklers. There was a certain loss in being unable to share the childhood road trip game of "find the Virgin" with my own kids.
Yet the truth revealed itself after a visit to my mom's.
Mary had simply moved to the 'burbs.
Praying in front of aging 100-year old bungalows in Chicago must have proved too much for our blessed Mother. She needed something simpler. Something smaller. Less to maintain. Mary did what thousands of Beverly moms have done through the years - she got herself a nice townhouse away from city living.
And that's where I spotted her. Coming home from my mom's condo in Orland Park, I caught a glimpse of her peeking out from behind a water meter. I did a screeching u-turn and whipped out my camera to photograph this rare relic of devout Catholicism. The kids perked up.
Why are we going this way, mommy? I thought we were going home?
I then told them we were on a mission from God. Whoever could find the most Virgin Mary statues would win a ticket to heaven (more on that recent good-behavior-inducing incentive another time).
It was like shooting fish in a barrel. They were everywhere. The ultimate Virgin Motherload. My kids would scream and point each time they spied another statue.
Just like old times.
I found most of these in the same cul-de-sac:
On a day where I wasn't sure what I would be blogging about, God provided me a source of humor, blog continuity, and faith. It can't be coincidence.
Just a thought.
Years ago, my sons decapitated the "Our Lady of Knock" statue in my mom's garden with a well-placed baseball hit. Your blog reminded me that I need to go shopping. I never did replace that for her. My Irish-Catholic children thought they would be sent immediately to purgatory. A look of pure terror was on their faces the moment of impact.
ReplyDelete~Cousin MJ
MJ - I've already started scoping out my future Mary statue on Amazon.com. Here's the one I'm thinking about...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Virgin-Blessed-Mother-Garden-sculpture/dp/B0010SZ15K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312558471&sr=8-1
Let's bring back the Marys!
I can see you're a woman after my own heart. I think to myself, frequently, that the most obvious proof of God's hand is in the very simplest things in this world. Including simple (but fabulous) Mama bloggers!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I almost peed myself laughing about the free ticket to Heaven...
And that will make up for never going to church.
ReplyDeleteYes, and Jesus (and his mom) did not hang out at churches (synagogues)on a weekly basis but practiced good works on a daily basis. For moms in those days it included cleaning childrens bottoms and feeding their hard working mates. Amen! Has anything changed? God bless all moms who insure the continuance of Gods works and civilization.
ReplyDeleteErica - thanks! Really - why would God only evidence himself through the elite? Mom Bloggers are so the way to go.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - We've looked up the schedule. We're getting clooooser.
Anonymous #2 - Amen.