Dear Friends,
On a spring Saturday morning in the early 1960’s, at the four corners in Pittsford, a man in his late 60s boarded the East Avenue bus. Within a half hour, he was in Sibley’s Bakery picking up a seven-layer mocha cake. Outside Sibley’s he caught a #10 Dewey bus. Carefully balancing the cake on his lap, he traveled another half hour to a bus stop in the Maplewood neighborhood. He walked to the Schantz home at 380 Seneca Parkway, walked up the porch steps, and rang the front doorbell. “Is your dad home?” he said to my brother who opened the door. “I’m his Uncle Herb.”
Herb had never met me or any of my seven siblings. His brother Rupert died when my dad was seven. Grandpa’s family became estranged from my dad’s mother due to their cultural and financial differences. After thirty years’ separation, Herb had recently reached out to my dad, but this first visit was a surprise. Herb became a beloved part of our family, along with his sister Irene.
This winter I am identifying with Uncle Herb and his desire to reconnect. I reflect on my own family bonds. They have been weakened in recent years by geographical distance, family deaths, and infrequent gatherings. As Lent begins, I am drawn to find ways to reconnect. What can I do to strengthen loving connections?
Is there anyone you are missing in your own life? Do you feel drawn to make a journey, too, carrying the sweet gift of connection?
In hope,
Susan Schantz SSJ
