Memories that bubbled up

When I was talking to my spiritual director yesterday she said, "Let's see what bubbles up now." This morning while listening to the presentation Father Chi gave on "Jesus Abides in Me," some memories of Mom and Dad bubbled up.

One was Mom's fierceness about cruelty to children. Whenever she read or talked about people who had molested or beat or hurt children, Mom's face would become angry in a way I didn't see any other time. She would say something expressing her extreme displeasure with anyone who would mistreat children. She just didn't understand how anyone could do that to children who were so helpless and dependent.

Once I told her about a co-worker and friend of mine. He dated and then married a woman who already had a little boy. I think the boy was around 6 or 7. My friend told me that when he and his fiance told the little boy they had decided to get married, the first thing the boy said was, "Now can I call you Dad?" Mom said, "All they want is to love you."