Mary...Hail Mary

Prayers are there when I feel powerless, yet I need to do something.

When I hear tragic news, the first thing I say is Hail Mary...

When my Mom called home that Sunday evening in March 2000 and said, "They think they're losing him," about my Dad, I said the Hail Mary in my head while my words were a constant "Oh no."

When they called to say that Rodney had been in a farming accident and it didn't look good, I paced the sidewalk, carrying my baby, wailing the Hail Mary up to the Heaven.

When my 7th-grade-ESP-project-pal Jane was hospitalized later when we were in our 30s with they-didn't-know-what-scary-thing-at-the-time, this Scary-Mary said the Hail Mary for that Scrapper-Jane.

When I hear today that a family friend who has lived through enough heartbreak needs chemo for a cancer that is advancing rapidly, Hail Mary immediately pops into my head.

Sometimes, I feel as if my soul is constantly praying to keep others safe and healthy and to keep my heart from breaking from the physical demands that life puts on my family and friends. If I could take the pain of a sickness or disability from them, I would. Anything from my child's muteness to my sister's surgery tomorrow, everything from a chronic condition to a specific event, I would take it, but I can't, and so I pray. I pray with my heart and my soul.

My prayers are not always answered with the outcome I desire, but I know that Mary intercedes on my behalf. She hears and listens.