Author: michardillo
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Good Friday: Behold, Your Mother
Yesterday, Good Friday, my church parish had a new liturgy at noon, The Seven Last Words of Jesus. These are phrases attributed to Jesus during his crucifixion. A string quartet played an orchestral piece composed by Joseph Haydn designed specifically for this service. More info about this piece of music is here: Seven parishioners were…
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The Arm That Embraced Our Lord
https://cathstan.org/news/local/relic-of-the-arm-that-embraced-our-lord-venerated-at-st-jude-parish
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Happy heavenly birthday to my mom
Taking a moment today to give a prayer of thanksgiving for my lovely mother, Margaret Harvey Blanchard (bottom of photo) on her birthday. She would be 91 today. I have missed her so much, especially since my dad is also gone. Today is also the Feast Day of St. Margaret of Scotland, which was so…
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Book Review: Elinor’s Glad-To-Be-Together Family by Susan Layne with illustrations by Diana Ting Delosh
In this melting pot of a country that we call the United States, many of us live far away from family, with some of us having family in a different country as well. Susan Layne, a 4th generation Texan living far away from her children and grandchildren, captured perfectly the feeling when families are finally…
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This is Heaven; How May I Help You?
TikTok is an ocean of possibilities. I have an account but I don’t ever open it. I do, however, frequently watch TikToks that are cross-posted on Instagram or Facebook, and that is how I stumbled upon 26-year old Taryn Delanie Smith, a former beauty queen who is as of this writing sitting pretty with 1.3…
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Book Review: The Guncle by Steven Rowley
I did not expect to love this book. I had heard good things about it, but I didn’t think this would bowl me over and make me laugh out loud and cry at different moments, especially on a crowded airplane. I had previously read Rowley’s The Editor and enjoyed it (you had me at Kennedy).…
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Book(s) Review: The Abbott Agency Series by Veronica Heley
If you know me at all, you know that mystery is my favorite genre, and to be honest, cozy mysteries at that. I don’t mind murder, but I prefer it to be off the page, and if there is any sort of abuse or torture (mental or physical), count me OUT. After I read The…
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Book Review: Drowning by T. J. Newman
I had heard so much hype about this book I was hesitant to even request it from NetGalley as I tend to not like the “big” books that everyone else is screaming about. Boy, was I wrong. This book! I devoured it in 24 hours because I simply couldn’t stop reading. I’m not squeamish about…
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Book Review: Mrs. Porter Calling by A. J. Pearce
One of my favorite books of 2019 was Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce, which I read just before the lockdown and the horrible pandemic thing ensued. I love that book so much that my family finally did an intervention and asked me to STOP talking about Emmy and her friends. Since then, I’ve…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 