Lately there have been so many crazy things-most of them fantastic crazy things, some of them scary-going on in my life. It's times like these that i just ache for the people that i love. so many of them are here at BC-but many of them aren't. last night i talked to jess for the first time in weeks. Kriss is going through something really crazy, and i want to be there. Every time i talk to Jana, or Claire or any of the other beautiful people in my life my heart hurts a little bit. I want to be with them. I want to get in my car right NOW and drive to des moines or st. louis or kirksville, or wherever and love these people in person. I'm sure ive written about this before, and i'm sure i'll write about it again, because it's something i think about on a very regular basis, but I can't help thinking lately how blessed i am with love. Claire and i talk all the time about what an incredible gift it is that love works the way that it does. I don't need to be near these people to be in their hearts and keep them in mine. I meet them in the Eucharist. Each day when i sit before the blessed sacrament, I know i'm sitting there with them. I know that our hearts are connected in a way that i can't possibly understand, but i do feel it. i do know it. In my own selfishness, i want to be in their presence. But because we have such a loving and kind Savior, he allows us t be in the presence of the people that we love when we are in HIS presence. I am a "misser." When i go too long without seeing the people i love, it hurts. But every day when i think of them and pray for them i realize even more that we are together in a deeper way even than we could be if we were physically sitting in each others presence. Jesus is a connector...a bridge. This gives me so much peace, especially when it comes to what i will be doing next year. Chances are it won't be much of an option for me to see the people i love on a regular basis, or maybe even speak to them. No matter...are hearts are all piled up in God's hands, woven into the same fabric.