Meal Train for The Rodriguez Family
https://mealtrain.com/8v0w3n
I think gift cards for delivery would be a great option, as they're spending a lot of time with their son at the hospital.
If nothing else (and of course with anything else) prayers are always appreciated!
God bless
Midsummer is a magical time for collecting edible wild plants. You can spend warm days and light evenings foraging for ingredients to make interesting and delicious food and drinks.
From fresh flowers and tender leaves to crisp seeds, here are some edible plants to forage in June.
Please harvest responsibly and only take what you are confident you can identify. For top tips on safe, sustainable foraging check out our guidelines.
One year ago today (9.20.20) I lost my little brother and best friend. It was the day I joined the club no one wants to be a part of - the dead siblings club - the day my family changed forever. I’ve experienced plenty of loss prior to losing Nick, but none was as painful and hard as losing my little brother. I’m struggling to figure out exactly what I want to say, but I know Nick’s in Heaven and is surrounded by family. This past year I’ve felt so many emotions - sadness, pain, anger, guilt, numbness, etc. I’ve learned that the grief process is never-ending and not linear. I’ve learned I will grieve for the rest of my life.
A year ago, Nick left to go to a “buddy’s” house to watch a fight on TV. I remember saying “Drive safely” to him before he went. Turns out Nick bought “cocaine” from this “buddy.” Nick came home later that night, and I didn’t see him because I had already gone to bed when he got home. Sunday afternoon, we found Nick dead in his bed. What Nick didn’t know is that his “buddy”/dealer had sold him cocaine laced with fentanyl. Prior to Nick’s death, I had no idea what fentanyl was, and I didn’t know that drug dealers mixed it in with other drugs because it’s cheaper. It blows my mind that people would value a few dollars over a human person’s life. For those who don’t know, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid; the amount of fentanyl it takes to kill someone is less than a grain of salt. Nick had over 8x the amount in his system it would take to kill a person. He stood no chance to live.
I guess I’m writing this to raise awareness of the opioid, more specifically fentanyl, epidemic in this country. Nowadays, if you buy drugs off the street or off of social media, you are literally playing Russian roulette with your life. You do not know what is in that drug, and chances are, you’ll die. Please educate your children and friends about this. One pill can end your life and cause your family and friends endless pain. Now, Nick wasn’t perfect; he was only human. He made mistakes. He bought the drugs, but he didn’t deserve to die. He had a full, wonderful life ahead of him. My family will never get to celebrate another birthday with him. I will never get to have the future experiences between siblings with him. He’ll never get to have his own children.
I pray that my sharing will help someone else be spared the pain of losing a loved one like this. I pray that Nick’s up there watching over us, and I pray that my family can find peace.
Nick’s Big Sister - Forever23
Illicit fentanyl has become an epidemic in this country; so much so that the DEA has created a "National Fentanyl Awareness Day," which is today, May 10th.
I will continue to educate people about fentanyl poisoning until I die... because if I can save one family the pain of losing a family member, then at least one good thing came out of my brother's death.
Please don't assume that it "couldn't happen to your sibling or child" because I'm here to tell you that I had that exact thought after Nick died.... things like this don't happen to my family. I was wrong. It could and DID happen to my family...
Maybe if I would've known about fentanyl before Nick died, I could've done something, but I will never know... so here I am trying to educate as many people as possible.
#OnePillCanKill
Today is the Feast Day of St Joseph the Worker.
St. Joseph has two feast days on the liturgical calendar. The first is March 19 - Joseph, the Husband of Mary. The second is today’s.
St Joseph, pray for us!
this is one of the most magnificent stinkers I’ve read all year
A mix of modern, diasporan and traditional Ukrainian pysanky.
“And when I look across the sun-struck fields, I know in my inmost bones that my joy is not solely in the spring: for spring alone, being always returning, would be always sad. There is somebody or something walking there, to be crowned with flowers: and my pleasure is in some promise yet possible and in the resurrection of the dead.”
— G.K. Chesterton: The Daily News, 4/15/1911
