By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
My cousin Rick gave me a bear hug at the luncheon after our uncle Lary’s funeral Mass last Friday. Rick and I don’t see each other often but fond childhood memories fill my mind each time. Our mothers, two of Lary’s older sisters, spent a lot of quality time together throughout our childhood and beyond. Rick was among the relatives whose company I enjoyed during this celebration of Lary’s life. I imagine Lary watching over the gathering with joy. He loved our annual Haupt family picnics and Christmas reunions.
All three of my siblings arranged to attend the funeral Mass in the Twin Cities, two flying in from Arizona and my husband Steve and I driving in from Iowa. Our parents treasured our presence at Mass and for dinner at a restaurant, where we laughed reminiscing about our growing-up years. For that brief time, we set aside the concerns of the world to focus on the love we share as a family. Pope Francis describes the family as “the image of God, who is a communion of persons” in his apostolic exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia” (no. 71).
Six days before the funeral, I reunited with another “family,” related through friendship. Sister Kathy Holland, a Clinton Franciscan, brought us together for the 2025 “Coldest Night of the Year” (CNOY) walk Feb. 22 in Clinton, an event that raises funds to serve and support vulnerable families and individuals. We met at the Clinton YWCA. Its Empowerment Center provides case management and access to supportive services for families and individuals experiencing poverty, homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.
Sister Kathy’s “family” was the largest at the event. Although I didn’t know everyone, their collective support for Sister Kathy and the cause inspired me to think of “family” in the warmest sense. Jean and spouses Randy and Chris were among the people in this family of friends who shaped my journey as a young reporter, runner and companion on the journey. I reminded Jean of the long runs she talked me into between DeWitt and Clinton. Her knowing smile made me laugh at the memory. Randy, Chris and I were absorbed in conversation as we walked along Clinton’s riverfront, catching up, moving on and melting the chill in the air.
Pope Francis says, “[The] love between members of the same family — between parents and children, brothers and sisters and relatives and members of the household … is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family. Friends and other families are part of this larger family, as well as communities of families who support one another in their difficulties, their social commitments and their faith” (“Amoris Laetitia,” no.196).
His description of family in his encyclical letter “Fratelli Tutti” stirs my soul. “Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all” (no. 8).
I thank God for these opportunities to bond with “family.”
(Contact Editor Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
