You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. Den left a while ago to return to Chicago. We had a great weekend, beginning with dinner at the Hollansbees'. Danny, Shelley, and Baby also came by, and the Dane and Angie Slayton and son Kale were there. It was a great meal. We had such a good time that we stayed longer than we meant to. Meanwhile Chris and Shelly brought "Catholic" fish and assorted dishes and had dinner with Rose and Shirley.

Shirley's sister, Loretta, arrived noon Saturday from New Orleans for a ten-day visit. This year we are convening our "Ya-Ya" sisterhood in St. Louis rather than on Palm Island, our normal winter retreat spot where we stay compliments of the Schmitt Family (niece Stephanie, Dan, Nathan, and Jacog) who let us use their gorgeous beach house.

Den and I had another wonderful meal, compe the casino, Saturday evening.

As a follow-up to the rosary subject, I gave Loretta (who has actually been to Ponchatoula, La) her gift, and she will take her daughter Yvonne's rosary to her. [Yvonne every year has sent a box of goodies to the "Ya Ya's" on Palm Island. The people in the resort office always get a laugh out of the arrival of the box.] Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I got from niece Nancy that surely gave us an injection of hope, faith, and caring:

"It took me many years to discover that just having a rosary (or many rosaries) isn't enough. You really have to use it to know the benefits and I have many "miracles" to share with you sometime about what's come for me during my recitations or shortly after I've finished. One quick, powerful story I'll tell you now is about when Merri was being used in the bank robbery. Rick got the word while he was working a fluke-problem at our 911 center (he designed and maintains our local system, but usually sends a tech for problems there and rarely has to go himself) that the manager of Bank of Commerce was being held hostage. He heard the call come in and came right home to tell me what little sketches of info. they had. It looked pretty bleak for Merri from what little we could gather. While he was making calls to get more details from the police and bank employees, I went to my room and prayed the rosary. The bedroom t.v. was on w/o sound so I could watch for any news bulletins. The Montel Williams show was on. On about the 3rd decade, I glanced at the t.v. and there was no picture, only the word "TRUST" in huge letters. I was crying and very upset so went back to praying and looked up again a few minutes later. The word was still there unchanged. I finished the rosary, glanced at the clock. It was shortly after 10 a.m. and Montel was back on blabbing. The I realized that I actually felt a calm. Merri told me later that she got to a point that she felt that she was going to survive this and had a little peace. When I asked when that hit her she said it came just after 10 a.m. Coincidence? I don't watch Montel so don't know if he flashes words on the screen and leaves them up for over 5 minutes, but it seems unlikely. . . I believe Mary was watching over Merri and was trying to give me a message that she'd be alright. Well, I have more "rosary miracles" to tell you. How about we go out on your lake and float in the middle of the night some summer evening and I'll tell you some more? (Now that was fun - until you told me there's snakes in the lake!)"

[For those of you who don't know about the bank robbery that Nancy is referring to, briefly this is the story: Merri was taken hostage from her home, forced to wear a bomb strapped to her body, get money from the bank, and leave it at a location. She managed to do all this, not knowing if she would escape with her life. Her ordeal, which lasted several hours, was one of "America's Most Wanted" episodes before the bastard was caught.]

On a lighter note, here a joke some of you may like and some may not:

Three Texas surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed. One of them said, "I'm the best surgeon in Texas. A concert pianist lost seven fingers in an accident. I reattached them, and eight months later he performed a private concert for the Queen of England." One of the others said, "That's nothing. A young man lost both arms and legs in an accident. I reattached them, and two years later he won a gold medal in field events in the Olympics." The third surgeon said, "You guys are amateurs. Several years ago a cowboy who was high on cocaine and alcohol rode a horse head on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the horse's ass and a cowboy hat. Now he's president of the United States."

We are looking forward to another full week. Margaret and Norm are coming for dinner on Tuesday. The landscaping company is rapidly completing the back yard project. Let's just hope the great weather holds up.