Maureen and Sean – V

Maureen became a semi-regular at church after that first Sunday. By semi-regular I mean a couple Sundays a month. During the first summer her son, Frankie, attended our Vacation Bible School (VBS) and Maureen helped out on the last night of VBS when we had a cookout for kids and parents. Her daughter, Chalice, learned to walk, speak her first words, and discovered the joy of cookies.

I’d see Sean occasionally at the post office; or at the Old Village Café early in the morning or at lunchtime. We’d talk about whatever construction or road building job he was working on; since he was a hunter, during deer season I’d ask him about hunting – Sean was especially fond of the bow as well as black powder.   

It turns out that Maureen had been raised by a mom who belonged to a Presbyterian church and a dad who was Roman Catholic, so she was accustomed to going to worship services of both traditions. Since our congregation was comprised of individuals and families that represented a number of traditions, with a good many from no religious tradition, we easily assimilated folks into our church family. We were a casual group as churches go, casual in the sense of being relaxed with each other. We were not casual about what we believed, for our focus was on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and as the only hope for a dying world. But as Susan said one Sunday morning, “When I’m here I feel like I’m with my family – right in our living room, with people I love and with whom I can share my life.” Since the early Christians typically met in homes I was gratified to hear Susan’s comment – after all, Jesus said that others will know we are His followers by the love we have for one another.

Early in our second year at Rock Castle, I was in the Old Village Café having a cup of coffee and waiting for my pastor friend George to meet me for breakfast when Susan and Sharon stopped by my table on their way out after finishing their breakfast.

“Well ladies, what’s your day look like?”

“We’re headed over to Maureen’s”, Sharon said, “I’m going to watch Chalice and Susan is taking Maureen to Charlottesville.”

“What’s going on in Charlottesville?” I asked.

“Maureen hasn’t been feeling good and she’s going for some tests”, Susan answered. “You know, she had cancer about three years ago and they thought they’d got it, she’s been doing fine for all this time.”

No, I didn’t know Maureen had had cancer.