What else is there?

People being present to each other

Above is the hill with the world’s tallest image of a winged Mary, the Virgen del Panecillo or Virgen de Quito.

Thank you, Ecuador for embracing us. Thank you, Quito for allowing us to be in your mountainous city. Thank you, Mother Mary, for having a special celebration while we were in town. Thank you, Jesuits, for reminding me that your approach to theology, one based on the accompaniment of others, is one I can get behind and be inspired by. Thank you also for reminding me why I appreciated Pope Francis and how strange that he died while we were there. Thank you, Center for Working Families, for being so kind to us. Thank you for letting your children eat meals and sing songs with us. Thank you, Olivia, for coordinating everything and for being a bridge. Thank you (to who knows) for keeping Teilhard’s philosophy book in the library of the volunteer building. I hope you will enjoy the Willie Nelson Biography I left behind for you! ;) You know, he’s 92 now? If you read it, you may discover that Willie is, in his own way, a theologian of sorts. Thank you, Padre Halligan and Madre Miguel, for your legacy of presence and for what you built. Thank you to Antonia, Sofia, Herman, Freddy, Silvia, Dr. Ximena, Nurse Alex, Lauren, Hollis, Maddie, Pepina, Frank, Rosemary, Helen, and all the Boston College High School boys. Thank you, Maria for teaching us about growing cacao as conservation and about being earth guardians.

Sometimes I like to explain things in detail, but this experience feels like something I might not have words for anytime soon. One year ago, right before my breast cancer surgery, I attended a sound bath. In it, many beautiful ideas came to me. One of them was a directive to return to The Center for Working Families in Quito where I had volunteered one summer as a 17-year-old. “Go with your family this time,” the idea said. So, one year later, we did. It was hard to pull our daughters out of school and it took a lot of planning and moving of things around, but I will be ever glad we went. There are so many details I could include (and I will include pictures and videos below), but what struck me most was that the friends we met were so present to one another. I never felt anyone’s energy to be in a hurry. People were not rushing past each other to get to something more important. The people themselves were what was important. All those little interactions. I was a little caught off guard when I returned home and went to a work event with very little chit-chat. No “¿Cómo estás?” or “¡Buenos días!” It’s okay. I am like this sometimes too. Even so, this is the thing I most want to carry forward with me. Being truly present with others. There is nothing else really.

Our view from the roof at the Center

Denim upcycling project

The cloud forest

A dance party!

A mural at the Center

An unexpected earthquake drill led us to be outside where we sang a song the 1st -6th grade children wrote!

Podemos estar con mis amigos
Podemos divertirnos
Haciendo tareas en grupo
Desarollamos la mente

View from our bedroom

Helen with K3-4 class

A video of rain :) It rained every afternoon. Most mornings it was sunny.

For more information on the Center for Working Families, visit https://www.c4wf.org/