I'm writing in larger print for my friends who, like me, are struggling to see the tiny print. I just found another connection today and it's a biggie!
Two years ago, I started working at The College of New Rochelle, which is a Catholic college that was founded by the Urseline Order in 1904. According to Kevin Knight, editor of New Advent (newadvent.org), the order was officially started in 1535 in a small house near the church of St. Afra in Brescia, on Lago Garda.
In 1944 and 1945, several groups of soldiers were stationed in and around Lago Garda. My father was a part of the 10th Mountain Division and was in the mountains surrounding the lake. Dad often told us stories of his time in Italy, including the words he picked up while he was there. Even as small children, we understood that vieni qui meant "come here!" And capisce meant "understand?" One of the stories he told us was about the time he lived when his entire platoon went down in a boat on that lake. He was very ill the night before with a stomach virus. He had found a place to sleep in an abandoned house and never woke up when his platoon awoke the next morning. They all went on the boat and it sank just off shore.
I just found out today that St. Angela Merici is buried there in Brescia. We (my husband, my mother, and my sister) are going to that area of Italy soon. We are going to salute Dad, who's in heaven now, when we go by Lago Garda. I would love to see if we can stop somewhere to see St. Angela's gravesite and possibly the spot where Dad almost drowned. The connections are amazing, and they continue. I will continue to write about them.
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