It’s official.  I am the mother of two teenagers.  It happened back in April when my youngest turned 13, and since then I’ve been putting some thought into what my headstone should say.   One of my friends who outlives me needs to make sure that these 4 little words make it onto my grave marker: Lord Knows I Tried.

…Tried to teach these kids some manners.  I’m going to my grave insisting that they say “Yes Mam” and “No Mam” and not apologizing for it.  This is still the South, you know.

…Tried to stay out of their school projects, homework, and school life in general.  The turning point came when the youngest, the one who is 13 now, asked me for some homework help in 3rd grade, to which I replied,” I’ve already done 3rd grade.  Now it’s your turn.”

…Tried to let them have activities and friendships that interested them, even if it meant lots of driving from 3-7pm many nights.  One Saturday, I swear I was in the car for 6 straight hours, but who’s counting?  I could have (and should have) just driven on down to the beach.

…Tried to eat together as a family as much as possible, even if the dinner conversation was filled with “biting and devouring” as I like to call it, and I don’t mean toward the food.  (see Galatians 5:15 as a reference).

…Tried to establish family traditions and memorable vacations.  This I may actually have accomplished when we co-owned an RV with another Atlanta family.  We took 4 major trips cross country, the final trip encompassing 3.5 weeks of family togetherness.  Even though no one was speaking by the time we got home, just a mere year later they were asking for more.  RV travel is kind of like child-birth- you forget the pain.

…Tried to teach them about faith, the Church, and the joy of following Christ.  This is the most challenging yet most fulfilling, especially now that I am the only Catholic Christian in the family.  While each child has a great personal faith and sense of following the Lord, there is still much work to do in teaching them the fullness of the faith, the sacramental life, and the history and significance of the Church.  This effort, in particular, has done loads for my prayer life…

The world’s most famous grave marker stands for all to see in Rome.  Father Barron makes some wonderful observations about it here.    Cheers!   Chick B