“Pick the day. Enjoy it – to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come… The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present – and I don’t want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.”
- Audrey Hepburn
Maryknoll Sisters in Monrovia, CA
I spent Friday evening to Sunday morning to be with forty very strong amazing women – the Maryknoll Sisters In Monrovia, CA. These Sisters have spent their lives for the most part in other countries around the world and are now retired in their sense of the word retired. Many are volunteering for other organizations that feed the homeless or run food banks, tutor students, visit those who are alone and need assistance, and the list goes on…
Maryknoll is the past that has helped me and certainly demonstrates what Audrey Hepburn says. I especially went to see two women who I was with as we entered Maryknoll in 1953. In highlighting Mary and Rosemary, I highlight all the sisters presently in Maryknoll.
Maryknoll in Monrovia, CA
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
- Albert Einstein
Mary was in the Navy for several years before entering Maryknoll and from that time she has “given to others” in Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela and now volunteers to visit faithfully a woman who is alone and needs assistance.
Rosemary was a hospital administrator when she came to Maryknoll and from that time she was in Korea for four years, Indonesia for twenty-two years, and Nepal for about seven years and presently she is co-coordinating the Maryknoll complex in Monrovia. I entered Maryknoll at age 17 and from there became a teacher and taught in the cities of New York, Chicago, and in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles before leaving Maryknoll 18 years later.
Here is the sunrise in Monrovia as I left Sunday morning to drive to Indio.
Sunrise over Monrovia, CA
This was a big test day for me as I took the 10 freeway to Indio. It was the first time I was on the freeway in twenty years as I like to drive the surface streets in the Los Angeles area and beyond. Yes, I was tense at first, then became relaxed and assured – not too different than the PCH on busy days. And like the PCH, I will always be alert!
The freeway really needs a little fixing with stronger white dividing lines and less potholes from El Monte where I entered the freeway to almost to Palm Springs. I am not sure how they decide who and when that is done.
{ 1 comment }
