Burning Candles

My family lights a lot of candles, part of it’s tradition, part of it Faith, and part of it Hope.  There’s something comforting about lighting a candle, especially if its lit for someone.  Diane’s sister Jane last week lit a candle for Diane and I when we were visiting my oncologist.  She lit it in the morning for a bit then left the house to run some errands…

Diane lights candles for all reasons; sometimes to change the mood, accent a room, add a new scent, etc.  Years ago before her birthday party she lit so many candles I couldn’t figure out whether the house was a convent or a witches coven.  She lit an extra one of those tiny tea candles in the guest bathroom and forgot about it.  About an hour into the party the smoke alarm went off and smoke came billowing out of the guest bath room.  The tea candle set fire to the artificial plant which torched the wall.  Luckily we had a fire extinguisher nearby and put out the fire.  At another party she lit these really tall candles encased in glass up on the fireplace mantle.  The party went pretty late and I put a truckload of Coronas under my belt, so on the way to bed I decided to blow out the candles to avoid another fire.  To blow out these 2 foot candles I had to tip the glass back to reach the flame.  You had to be there; as I tipped the candle back the wax poured into my eyes which caused me to drop the candle on the floor, which shattered the glass, which I then stepped in with bare feet.  None of this I remember the next morning; especially an explanation for all of the blood dragged through the house.  Nothing clicked until I put on the sunglasses hung around my neck the night before, completely covered in wax.  That Father’s Day my sons drew cards with stick figures of me pouring wax in my face.  So proud of Dad.

One of Diane’s special places is the Grotto at Notre Dame.  It’s a cave beneath Sacred Heart Church lit up with hundreds of candles.  I hiked down to the Grotto countless times in college for both forgiveness and Divine intervention and I’ve done so many times since.   It never seems to be empty, I’ve been there all hours of the day and night and there are always people there reflecting or hoping.  My son Devin proposed to Kelsey there on a football weekend, so its a special place to us.  Diane says, “all prayers come true at the Grotto.”  I believe that’s right, there’s something peaceful about all the candle flames coupled together with countless people lifting their hopes up to Heaven.

…Late in the day after running errands all day Jane had forgot she had lit the candle in her bedroom.  She immediately panicked and began thinking the worst; the candle had set a fire, the cat got scorched, the house burned down, etc.  Of course nothing was wrong, so she texted Diane to tell her this crazy story.  My oncologist visit ended around 5:30 PM.  When I was checking out, Diane said she got a text from Jane, so she went outside to call her back.  While Diane was trying to call Jane from the parking lot at 5:35 PM an elderly patient reversed her car over two concrete barriers, put the car in drive and took off out of control at high speed running over another barrier and drove into a ditch just missing Diane standing there trying to call Jane.  Jane blew her candle out at 5:40 PM.

Sometimes there are sound reasons why good things happen and often times not.  I didn’t invent this world and I can’t for the life of me explain why all things happen the way they do.  I lean to the belief that God created Nature then left it alone, but sometimes She still intervenes in a pinch.  If you or a loved one ever need encouragement or even Hope, try lighting a candle, it will give that wish a quicker lift.  Just avoid tea candles, they’re bad.  Slainte.