Our blog collection often quotes from MomKidFriendly founder, Tom Henn’s published book “Lois and her Irishness” Here is another gem from it:
When Lois’s first child divorced in 1978 she was beside herself in grief. Lois felt she betrayed the Catholic Church. For a couple of years, she became completely absorbed by this unfortunate incident. She admitted to feeling so guilty and shamed by the infamous Catholic guilt she could not go outside. She did not recover until a regular doctor, (as there were no therapists back then), yelled at her “to get over it”. She did and said what she didn’t realize, was that “nobody cared about the divorce.” Over time she started to enjoy life again.
Lois did not hold anything against her first child for the divorce, and several of her children have gone through divorces since then. It was a passage in life for Lois that tore at her core and soul like many Irish Catholics. To Lois, being part of Our Lady of the Wayside Church was a way of life. It was the “persecution thought” that drove her to feel ashamed and separated from her community. In the end, the community embraced her and she changed, for the better. She, while enduring great heartache, gained great wisdom.
Once in her autumn years, she and her son Tom were listening to Paul McCartney’s song “Let it be“. When it finished, Tom suggested that sometimes, in life, it is better to “let it be.” Lois smiled and replied, “I agree”.
