21stcenturychurchlady
Bio: I was raised Catholic—Irish-Catholic, to be specific, in an upwardly mobile but still working-class world, the pillars of which were my (large, naturally) family and Our Lady of Victories, both the parish but more importantly the grade school. Church, except during an anxious phase somewhere around second grade when I had the sinking feeling that being a nun might be my only shot at heaven, was something I was resigned to rather than in love with. I vividly recalled feeling positively sick with envy when I learned from some kids in the neighborhood that Protestants did not court eternal damnation by sleeping in on Sunday mornings. I got out as soon as I could. Off to college at 18, and no more church for me. I came back, tentatively, when I became a mother. And slid gradually into something that I only dimly understand: a web of people I want to be with and things I want to do that need doing. One day when my older child was already a teenager, I let my gaze roam around a table full of good church folk during one of those meetings we seem to have so many of and realized: I am one of them. A church lady. In San Francisco, of all places. As a church lady, I have been called to do some things I knew how to do. I run a mean meeting, as a friend who was on a committee with me used to say…in admiration, he assures me. Other roles have been both challenging and terrifying. Most notable in the latter category is my nine-year career on the stage, playing Mabel, a crazy church lady, in the original play my little Episcopal church has presented annually for more than a decade. That’s me as Mabel in the photo above. About this blog So it’s not all about church. That’s just one of the things that I think about a lot. I will also be writing about other things that are constantly on my mind: adult children, marriage, making a living, thinning hair, pizza. Oh, and Bruce Springsteen.
21st Century Church Lady 