Two Graced Events
Last week I experienced two events: the birth of Taylor and the death of Richard – God was busy that day because BOTH happened on the same day ! Taylor is the first grandchild of my friends Gail and Bill. Richard was a prisoner in our Restorative Justice circle. To begin a life, any life, is a miracle. Both of these lives are extraordinary! Taylor was born in the morning and Gail is my driver to the prisons I go to. She is also a prison ministry volunteer, an artist and a teacher. We were scheduled to go to prison that night but Taylor’s birth took precedence. Gail always made a point of greeting every man in our circle by name ! When she greeted Richard he would say, “I don’t know if I’ll come back next week.” She responded, “Then I won’t either!” At the end of the 12 weeks Richard was both stunned and honored to be chosen by the other men to be their graduation speaker. Ruth Poochigian, O.P. M...