My Lunch date

There is a lady, Cindy, in this diocese who is writing an article or a book or something about Archbishop Donoghue. Cindy has interviewed my mom and she has asked me to write a few things about ABD, especially about our daily lunch outings. To be honest, I am kind of stumped what to write. I am afraid that I cannot express how much these lunch outings meant to me. The short of it is that we would attend daily Mass, drive to a restaurant, eat, talk, and drive back home so ABD could take a nap. But lets be honest, it was so much more than that! My family was friends with Archbishop Donoghue for many numbers of years. We knew him on such a personal level that he really was just a member of our family. In the last year of his life, his relationship with us changed. There is a saying that I have heard many times in my life and it goes something like this: "You can always find friends who will ride in the limousine with you, but a true friend will ride the bus with you when the limo breaks down". I feel like in the last year of ABD's life, my family was riding the bus with him. Now don't get me wrong, there were TONS of great people who would have done anything for this man if he called and asked (or if my family called them) but it was Archbishop's choice to have my mom, myself, and another close friend (Claud) take him to all his doctor appointments and make decisions for him when he could not. He chose us to see him in these very vulnerable situations. As Archbishop's dementia worsened, i would see the look of reassurance when myself or a family member would walk into the room where ABD was. He knew we would take care of him. He knew he got confused but when we were with him, he knew he had nothing to worry about. I saw this every day at lunch. He would look to me when he couldn't remember what he liked to order from each restaurant and he knew I would help him. If we met others for lunch, he would look to me to help him order and pay as to not let on that he might be confused. If he DID show that he was confused, his sense of humor would show with flying colors as he would joke about it. He loved to joke..about everything! It was one of his greatest traits! He saw the joy in everything! I saw this so clearly when it was just the two of us having lunch. He got such a kick that I would post his picture every day on my facebook page as my "lunch date". We would get into the best conversations at lunch! We talked about everything from his childhood, his priesthood, to movies we had seen. He always asked about my husband and child and what they were doing that day. When my 6 year old son, Noah, and Archbishop were in the same room, Archbishop would always pretend his hand was a gun and he would shoot "bullets" at him. Noah thought this was the greatest thing!

Although we don't get to go to restaurants on a daily basis anymore, my "lunch dates" with Archbishop have not ended. As a Christian, I believe in everlasting life and as a Roman Catholic, I believe in the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist at the holy Mass. It is in the breaking of the bread that Heaven and Earth meet and all those who have died before us gather around the sacrifice of the Mass. It gives me such hope and strength to know that Archbishop is in the hands of our Heavenly Father and that our Heavenly Father is real and present at Mass...in the breaking of the bread. This is a feast greater than we will ever have in any restaurant and i know with all my heart ABD is there and present, praising our Lord just as he devoted his life to here on earth.