Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

Thanksgiving Day and oh yes, there was so much to be thankful for. Our house was filled with so much laughter and fun. After the 10 A.M. Mass, I had asked if there were any traditions that our 3 guests had with their own families that we could incorporate into the day. Shannon said that they make place settings for each person with construction paper and cardboard rolls from bathroom/paper towels. Each roll is decorated as an indian or pilgrim. James, Paul, Shannon, Lillian and Joe worked on them while I got the Thanksgiving meal ready. Our '5th' son, Matt Velker came by and joined us for dinner too. It was a perfect day.

Friday morning, Jon, Paul and I went to Hanceville, Alabama to see the nuns at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. The weather was crisp and beautiful and since most people were at the shopping malls, the traffic was very light. Big bonus for us! We had about 40 minutes to spare when we got there so we sat in front of the Blessed Sacrament for a while to present our intentions to Jesus. We then found a quiet place for Paul to warm up before he played his guitar for the nuns. We waited in the hallway until we were invited into the parlor. A young woman, who is in the novitiate, came to meet us. She told us her name was Isabella. I told her we would definitely remember her name since it is the same one Jon and Marie have chosen if their baby is a girl. She agreed it was a perfect name. Then, she looked at Paul and asked, " Are you Paul Fidero? We have really been looking forward to your coming here to play for us." She then asked us to come into the parlor. There were about 8 young seminarians who were visiting from Ohio and they were still visiting with the nuns. Sr. Marie St. John asked if Paul would mind playing for the seminarians also and Paul said he would not mind at all. Within minutes, the chairs were all filled on the parlor side and also on the other side, where the cloistered nuns sat. I told them that Paul had been practicing for weeks and that he had even memorized his songs for the nuns. This was not as easy as it seemed since Paul struggles with short term memory problems. But with practice, he did it. He played Ode to Joy, then Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring. After these 2 songs, he looked up and with a serious face said, "The next song is one by the Rolling Stones." The whole room erupted into laughter at this and I could tell Paul was really having a wonderful time entertaining. He was enjoying the fact that he had made everyone laugh with his joking. He then finished his 3rd classical piece and he looked up and gave everyone his huge smile as they clapped for him. Later, he told me how awesome it was to look up and see all those nuns looking at him with such wonderful smiles. He was really touched by it. We got to spend an hour with the nuns, priest and seminarians! It was incredible. One of the nuns, Sr. Mary Clare, was not there when Paul played, so when she came in about 25 mintues later, he sat down and played just for her. On our last trip, she had asked us to pray for her baby nephew, who has a very rare disease. She told us Connor was not doing very well at all and asked us to keep up our prayer vigil for him. She was happy to hear that the picture she had given us on our last trip, of Mother Angelica holding Connor, was placed in front of the statue of Blessed Mother. We placed it there so we would remember to keep him in our daily prayers and also as a visible sign that Our Mother in heaven truly looks over us all in our needs. We found out that Sr. Marie St. John keeps a picture of Paul on her desk and she prays for him everyday! We told her that the prayers are surely being heard in heaven, because Paul is doing so much better. She did say that she was totally amazed at the difference in his appearance in only 4 months. We left the Shrine with the promise that when Paul had a lot more songs learned, he would come back and continue to share his gift of music with them.
We were supposed to meet the group of Ave Maria University students, along with the nuns and priests from that school, but they had left the shrine earlier to go to EWTN in Birmingham. We told them we would call them after Paul played for the nuns and would then try to meet them.
I called Anne Shea and found out that they were still at EWTN and so we drove about 40 miles to meet them there. They were at the monastery about 2 miles away from EWTN when we arrived, so we waited in the chapel . I was just overflowing with the joy of the day and it was great to be sitting in front of the Tabernacle, thanking Jesus for all the blessings we have received. I cannot describe the amount of happiness I felt while sitting there.

The chartered bus pulled up outside and Anne came into the chapel to welcome us. In October, it was Anne who asked if we could come to the Shrine during the Thanksgiving weekend, after she read on the blog that we had hoped to bring Paul back to the Shrine once he had learned a few songs. When I told Paul about the idea, he kicked into high gear to learn the songs very quickly so we could time our visit with Ave Maria’s. There were almost 60 people on the bus. Paul was most especially looking forward to seeing Jordan Shea. They had met about 4 years prior, when some of the students at the Ave Maria Michigan campus were traveling to Daytona Beach during Spring break to evangelize to the youth at the beach. Jon was attending Ave Maria at the time, so he asked Paul (who was 18 yrs old) to join them. We drove Paul to Augusta and dropped him off at the Shea's house. From there, the 2 van loads of students traveled to Florida. That is when we all met the Shea family. Jordan was about 12 years old at that time and we later learned that he had really enjoyed being with Paul and had been very sad to see Paul leave. Jordan is not able to hear out of one ear and has very limited hearing in the other. Out of all the people who were at the Shea house, it was with Paul that Jordan felt a connection. In hindsight, it is easy to see God’s hand at work! Paul was really looking forward to seeing Jordan again. He wanted to share the fact that he too suffers with the loss of hearing in one ear. So as we came into the room where everyone was gathered to have dinner, Paul was looking for Jordan. Jon told me later he was keeping an eye out for Jordan too because he wanted to see his face when he saw Paul. He was not disappointed. He said that when Jordan saw Paul, his face lit up into a huge smile and he went quickly to Paul’s side. Paul recognized him instantly and smiled right back. They immediately started talking about having hearing aides and comparing the functions of each set. They shared all the difficulties they endure, but especially the constant ringing in their ears. Both of them agreed that they will listen to music or watch a movie to take their minds off the constant ringing noise they hear 24/7. While we can empathize with Paul, only Jordan would understand what it is like. They talked the whole time during dinner and were really enjoying each other’s company.

Now, along with the Shea's, there were lots of students and their families, nuns and priests and also Fr. Raphael, who is the founder of the religious order of nuns called The Home of the Mother. Anne Shea’s daughter, Katherine, is in the novitiate stage at the convent in Spain. The nuns who were on this trip belong to this order also. After dinner, Fr. Raphael got a microphone and to our surprise, introduced Paul. He speaks Spanish, so he had to use an interpreter. He asked Paul if he would tell everyone about his faith journey. I was a little worried that Paul would become overwhelmed with the request and so I immediately prayed that if God needed someone to hear His words, please send the Holy Spirit to help Paul speak them. Paul started out by telling everyone who he was before the accident. He said he went to church because he was supposed to. He prayed occasionally, but really didn’t have much of a relationship with God. He said that he pretty much lived his life according to his own will. He said he must have had a meeting with God during his coma because when he woke up, he could not stop thinking about God. He thinks about Him almost all the time now. Before he attempts to do most anything, he asks God to help him. He asks God to help heal him every day. He talks to God so much more. He told the young people that they needed to change their lives to be one with God. It was the most important thing they could do. If they weren’t in a close relationship with Jesus, they should change their lives right away. Paul mentioned that they didn’t need to have an accident to learn it. He must have needed to learn it that way, but not everyone has to go through that. He said he never regrets what has happened to him. He said, “Look at me – with all my physical problems and hearing loss and the paralysis, even with that, I don’t regret a thing. God allowed it to happen for a reason. He knows what needs to be done in my life. So I don’t regret anything that has happened.” Fr. Raphael asked Paul a number of questions, as did some of the students. Paul stayed very much at ease and answered them all patiently. Near the end, he started to repeat himself more than before, so I knew he was getting very tired. It was now around 8:30 and we had been away from home since 9:00 A.M. It had been a huge day for Paul. Fr. Raphael then asked Paul if he would play his guitar for the group. Paul got his guitar and they made a space for him in the middle of the room. As he sat down and got situated, Jordan got the portable microphone and ran down to where Paul was and he knelt on the floor in front of Paul and held the microphone in front of the guitar so that everyone could hear him play. I had to work hard to hold back the tears as I watched Jordan kneeling at Paul’s feet, making sure his friend’s music would be heard. The beauty of that act, by this sweet young man who has difficulty hearing – knowing instantly what to do to get the sound of the music out to everyone’s ears. God was speaking volumes in that act of love. I felt very blessed to be a witness to it.

It came time for everyone to leave. We had a 3 hour drive back to Atlanta and they had to get back to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. We got to meet so many wonderful people in that short period of time. There was a couple from Connecticut who told us they still read the blog and asked us to pray for them as they had to drive back home from Florida on Sunday. What an awesome thing for us – meeting the people who have helped pray Paul back to good health! You can bet we remembered them in prayer as requested. We got to meet another Sister Isabella. She had come from the convent in Spain. Hmmmm……I wonder if Marie’s baby is a girl………….
It took us a good while to get all the goodbye’s completed, but finally everyone was on the bus and in the vans and ready to leave. As we stood there, a man and woman came up to us and the man introduced himself to Paul. He told Paul that he had been listening to his story and he was going to read through the blog. He said he was the director of programming ( I believe that is what he said………..sorry, I was very tired at this point!) at EWTN. He said he believed that this story was something they would want to tell on EWTN and he asked Paul if he would be interested. Paul told him that he would and asked what he needed to do. He was told that they were going to read about his story on the blog and they would then call to make an appointment to discuss it all. We were asked for our phone numbers and told that they would be in touch with us.

We were stunned. Literally stunned. As we walked back to our van, Paul was laughing joyously about how awesome his day had gone. He could not believe how great it was seeing the nuns smiling at him, and seeing Jordan again and then getting to play his guitar for everyone and then maybe getting to be on EWTN. I can tell you, his joy was being shared by his parents! We could not believe what an awesome day it had been. One blessed moment after another. We talked about it almost all the way back home.

Yes, getting to know our ‘new’ Paul, we are getting to know God more each day.

“Blessed are the ears that heed the inner whisperings of the Lord, and pay no attention to the deceitful murmurings of this world; and blessed indeed are the ears which do not listen to the loud voices from outside, but instead are attentive to Him, Who inwardly teaches the truth.”
Imitation of Christ, 3:1

Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. (1 Sam 3:9)
May you incline your hearts to follow what Jesus speaks to your souls,
Love,
Jon and Rebecca

P.S. Last and certainly not least…….Paul is now completely off his prescriptions for headaches! He uses Advil only once a day, usually in the morning when he wakes up. He uses ice packs and exercises from the chiropractor during the day, when he feels a headache coming on, and it helps him avoid taking medication.He has mild headaches still, but he mostly doesn’t notice it enough to even mention it. He still has loud ringing in his left ear, but we keep praying that it will be healed. All things in God’s time. Praise be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.