In the midst of preparation to lead a retreat this weekend, with “Home for Christmas” as its theme, I’ve been reminded of the old adage about how the more things change, the more they remain the same.
The idea for this particular retreat came to me as “the holidays” were drawing to a close a year ago. I had taken a hastily scheduled trip to Portland to spend a week with my younger sister, as she prepared to begin radiation and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. That ordeal was to begin in January. Meanwhile, we were to have a week of “sister time,” the week we usually had in August, but this year August had been consumed by our joint effort to connect, or reconnect, cousins - - her children, my children, their children - - whose homes are on opposite coasts. That was before the cancer changed everything.
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