This is the only photo I could find of me and my mother when I was a kid. Like me, Ma usually was the one behind the camera, snapping shots of Dad, my sister, and me on our family jaunts to small theme parks in Maine and New Hampshire. This one was taken at  pirate-themed Pleasure Island. I was ten years old.

Ma didn’t know it at the time, but back then I didn’t believe in God. I went to Mass and confession and attended eight years of parochial school, but I had no real conviction that God was anything more than a mass delusion, wishful thinking.

But Ma had enough conviction for both of us, with plenty to spare. When I went off to college, she gifted me a subscription to Guideposts magazine, which she has faithfully renewed every year since. And prayers! I joke about how many rosaries she’s ground into fine powder, praying for me and my kids.

If you’ve looked around this website or read much of my writing, you know that God finally got my attention. Now I write for him. Ma is my biggest fan, cheering each accomplishment and commiserating with my struggles. You could say that’s her part of my ministry—a very important part. And yes, the beads are still clicking on my behalf!

Thanks, Ma. And Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,
Linda

Edit: My beloved Ma passed away less than a year after this post was published. I still hear her rosary beads clicking. ♥