St. Therese

I’ve always wanted to tell this story on our blog. However, the occasion had never presented itself until today. I received one of those chain emails which I usually find extremely annoying and usually delete immediately for fear of cursing myself. I feel so guilty sometimes for not forwarding them, especially the religious ones……so I usually just transfer them directly to my virtual trash, never to be thought of again. Today, for some reason, “that” email was begging to be opened. When I saw that it was St. Therese’s Prayer, poignant memories flooded my mind and I just had to forward the email and tell the story.

So here goes……

Most of you know that I was married to someone else before Ron. I was a very young and immature 22 year old bride. That marriage lasted a short 20 months, but had done about 20 years worth of damage to my self confidence and self worth, especially in the “relationship” department!

Fast forward 1 ½ years post divorce. I was working for a small CPA firm in Larose, LA when I met Ron’s Aunt Louise. Louise was a manager for one of our clients. On our very first meeting Louise said “I want you to meet my nephew….you two would be a perfect match!” I was thinking to myself “Sure, whatever…..I’ll probably never see you again, much less meet this nephew of yours, plus all men are pigs”. Imagine my surprise when a few months later I ran into Louise while in a Grand Isle bar. She pulled me by my arm, put me in her car and drove me to the place where Ron was bartending (yes, Ron was a bartender, believe it or not). I was immediately attracted to him. In fact, he had caught my eye a few weeks earlier, unbeknownst to him. I even remembered the shirt he had on the very first time I saw him and that cute smile. I know this is going to sound corny, but I remember thinking to myself “That guy would make beautiful children.” I know, I know, most of you are probably sticking your finger down your throat right now, but be patient with me. So, I sat at that bar until they closed at 6:30 the next morning. We really didn’t talk much that night because he was pretty busy. He called me a few days later and offered to cook me dinner. We really hit it off and began a pretty serious relationship pretty quickly. Two months into our relationship, I totally FREAKED out. I started questioning myself. Is this going too fast? Is he for real? Can a guy really be this good? What did I do to deserve this wonderful person in my life? Do I want to give up my new found freedom as a single woman? Is this really “The One”…..I feel he is, but what if I get hurt again? I was sooooo scared.

So what did I, the idiot, decide to do? I called it off ……on HIS Birthday. I still get a lot of grief about that to this day. But anyway, after my decision, I was MISERABLE. I cried for a whole week straight. I had so many conflicting emotions, but I felt that I had made a terrible mistake. Then one day, out of the blue, I get a dozen beautiful pink/plum colored tipped roses. I had never seen roses so beautiful or in that hue. They were from Ron. They came with a beautiful card and poem. Here I am, the one who had broken up with HIM and he sends ME flowers telling me that he is thinking about me. What did I do to deserve that? As I’m sitting there in shock, my co-worker walked in and told me that she had been secretly saying a Novena to St. Therese for me that week. She saw that I was so conflicted and asked St. Therese to give me clarity and a sign. She handed me the prayer card with St. Therese holding a dozen of the same exact colored roses!!!!! How do you like that for a sign? Ron asked me out on a date the following weekend and here we are happily married 9 years later...........

Our St. Therese statue is a permanent fixture on my bedside table.

While I'm on the subject of Catholic Saints......St. Philomena gave us Gracie