High School

           Today, Cody's first day at high school...I'd like to say he made it smooth.  Piece of cake...but, being 14, can mean, being forgetful!  He forgot his schedule...so, I drove home, got it, and drove it back to him.  After school, he said he did not get to eat lunch, the lines were too long...and even if they weren't, he had forgotten his student i.d., so they would not allow him to eat.  You would thing, that, after all of the years this school has been open, that they'd figure out how to control the lines at lunchtime...and, to allow a teenager to go without lunch, because he forgot his i.d., seems pretty punative - but, this isn't your dad's high school!
         Other than that, he said the day went great and that he enjoyed his first day of classes!
         My friends, Monique and Joe, who got him there, so I could go to Mass and picked him up, so I could pick up Lexy and Breanna and take the kids to go see Kung Fu Panda 2 (which was excellent, and a must see movie!!), made sure that they snapped a 1st day of school picture, ala Kimmy, for me:

             He's looking so grown up these days...and made his first day of high school seem like no big thing.  I'm sure that I've mentioned, that I'm proud of him!  And yes, that is a Napoli jersey I'm sporting - they managed to come in 3rd place in the Serie A, Italian soccer league - Kind of like if the Kansas City Royals came in 3rd overall in MLB - neither team has been worth anything since 1985 or so.  Cody has on his Hobie surf shirt that he picked out while we were at Laguna Beach - he wore it for his Mama....we thought of her a lot today.

              At San Xavier, I love this side entrance doorway.  The large, rustic wooden door, so ornately carved...leading out to the little side courtyard, where we'd sit with the kids during Mass when it was too crowded to sit inside, or when the kids were too restless to sit inside.  I usually sit by it during Mass and just stare at it...remembering.

            This church is ancient, by U.S.A. standards.  It holds many secrets.  I cannot help but let my eyes roam to the high, domed ceilings, covered in murals - with windows set 30 ft above the congregation.  And at the incredible carved statues of the saints, strategically placed around the church, always looking at the parishoners.  And the decorative scene behind the altar, a conglomeration of statues, paintings and stunning decor, and the large, scenic paintings on the sides of the interior - of the last supper.  They all speak to you.  How many people sat in the mission's pews?  How many prayers have been prayed there?  How many baptisms, first holy communions...weddings??  I know Cody's baptism and our wedding, play over and over in my head as I sit there each week, trying to get closer to Kim...

              Love,

                    Dave