Wenceslaus and Vincent de Paul, and Marty

I went to a Quilt-a-Fair with my friend Marty yesterday. We had a full-of-fun day. Marty's and my paths crossed often since highschool and we are very good friends and we live an hour apart, so don't see each other as often as we could. In fact, if she weren't currently a Mentor Mom with me in the MOPS group, we'd see each other much less. And Marty's husband Jim had been one of Monte's housemates prior to us getting married. So there's lots of memories, and we carry on creating more memories together.

Our goal was to walk around seeing the many booths and beautiful quilts hanging around the building, but we first walked around a farmer's market in the parking lot. When you 'walk around' with Marty, everything is an adventure! Her enthusiasm for everything is infectious, and besides her striking grey hair and turquoise jewelry (she grew up on Indian reservations with Wycliffe Bible translator parents) people love her smile, her easy laughter, and talking with her. After the quilt thing, hungry, we ended up walking around downtown Boulder, then sharing a Mexican fajita. 

Today's Christian calendar remembrance is Wenceslaus, but why I don't know, since he was murdered January 6 (my source says) by his brother around 930. He was king of Bohemia and strove for unity amongst the pagans (who ruled) and Christianity (which was persecuted). I think of him around Christmas with the carol "good king Wenceslaus" who was killed on "the Feast of Stephen".

Yesterday was Vincent de Paul's day, dying in 1660. French, he dedicated his life ministering to the oppressed. Founder of the Vincentians, devoted to serving invalids, orphans, war victims, convicts, and galley slaves. Vincent himself once traded places with a convict in the galleys, having heard the man despair of ever again seeing his wife and children. Vincent slaved for weeks until his followers bought his freedom. His name to me is "St Vinny", since we always go to that second-hand store in Wisconsin (along with the Amish) when we visit Monte's parents.