My sister sent a text last week, a link to schedule information about a relic that's coming to the United States in September. I Googled the saint connected with it, and boy, it was a rough story about Maria Goretti. an eleven year-old child who was murdered in 1902. The event that followed her death was even more startling and it brought about transformation and redemption. I know little more than nothing about relics, but I encountered one in 2006 that I will never forget...

There were large helium balloons floating solo as well as in clusters attached to long strands of ribbon tied to weights. I imagined a child holding onto them and being taken for a ride. But the story of these balloons was more intense than anything my vain imaginings could conjure. They hovered over this milestone event in Andrea's life to honor loved ones no longer with us, and they were a reminder of an extraordinary event that involved her Grandpa. Dad...

Unlike the separated, erect branches of a tree, the family system can feel like a complicated mangle of vines or brier. And because we start out with an expectation of the way family aught to be, it can take a lifetime to accept that sharing roots doesn't guarantee the ideal. I was aghast when Dad put it this way, "Hey, you're lucky if you're friends with your family when you grow up."