San Jose is about friends and family. Steve attended San Jose (class of ’80). To have our kids classmates parents be classmates of his, plus some teachers that were his were also our children’s, makes a sense of community run deep. Some of my fondest memories happen to be standing under a tree waiting to pick up my oldest son, Chase, with other ladies whose sons were in my son’s grade. It created a bond that is still alive today. As a matter of fact, two of those ladies (and their husbands) are godparents to our younger two children.
I know that the school and the Home and School Association are trying to continue to bring that connectivity even in these trying Covid times. It is difficult to create bonds when we cannot socialize freely. The teachers and staff of the school have always been accessible and could share in your family’s joys and sorrows. The bonds that they create with our children is amazing. We had several teachers come to our house to see our daughter in her last days. That meant the world to us.
The church has always been there for us. Specifically, Deacon Chris (and his wife, Kathleen) who traveled several times to Gainesville to visit us in the hospital. Fr. Rodolfo also joined us there. San Jose families came and said goodbye to Jo. A whole group of kids piled in their parents cars to make the trip to down to Gainesville to say goodbye. The Knights, the Women’s Bible Study, the Matthew Kelly book club groups, continue to bind us to our beloved Parish as we watch our youngest graduate San Jose this year. That’s 24 straight consecutive years of San Jose Catholic School for us coming to an end.
Tears 🙂 These are the actions of close friends and family. San Jose is the link that binds us all together.