Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! With the cool climate, stronger winds and falling leaves, can winter be far behind? October was kind of hectic with lots of travel and discovering new wonderful sights in other states, highlighted with joyful reunions with relatives and meeting new friends, continuous celebration for the many blessings and more!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on October 16 at the Radisson, the guest speaker was Fr.Thomas Eteneuer – President, Human Life International, who spoke on the topic ’Exorcism and the Church Militant’. With the current trend of too much liberalism and permissiveness, the audience’s interest was enthusiastic as he answered some queries: Is demonic possession real? What makes a person susceptible to diabolical attacks? And what really happens at an exorcism? What most of us know about demons and exorcism comes from Hollywood but what is reality? Fr. Thomas explained some causes of victimization, possession, and then the process of Exorcism. Demonic forces as they are fallen angels; they come in various forms: may come in business suits, games, books, entertainment - lurking in the dark to attack those who allow them. Fr. Eteneuer advised on how to avoid occasions for sins, to be vigilant always, to stay in the state of grace. Avoid practices of vodooism, Ouija boards, and other demonic practices out of curiosity. The Exorcism process should be done by authorized persons only, using the language of the church (Latin) in a set format, with humility and Authority of the Church / God / Holy Spirit! After exorcism, one should grow in holiness, as sign of deliverance and freedom of bondage from the devil. For more info, please visit www. stmike.org.

October / November are months of thanksgiving for the current year and anticipation for the coming year; spent time continuing the series of lunch-outs/ blow-outs with a series of friends and relatives, so it was hard controlling on the calories input; thus, I had to be more committed to my gym work-outs, diet and medication. With the cooler days, it was also time to switch wardrobe, putting on several layering of outfits from the closets.

The delay of this October update is due to computer inaccessibility while on my 4-day sojourn to New Orleans, Louisiana to attend the wedding of my nephew Mark to Sherri Pouyadou (of French descent) at the Loyola University Church, held on October 31, 2009, Saturday, 7:00pm. Why they chose the big Halloween night for their big wedding of 150 guests – their choice – what a way to make a wedding and their anniversaries truly memorable! Since it was my first in that culturally-rich Big Easy state (of Katrina and Brad Pitt fame), I had to maximize immersion into its history and tradition. My flight from Sac on Oct 30 am was via Atlanta (busiest airport in the world with its trams moving you from one concourse to another) was on time, but the flight to New Orleans was delayed due to heavy rains, so I arrived past 10pm, thus unable to attend the rehearsal dinner. My daughter Sarah from NJ, was already checked in at our hotel room and was able to attend dinner, so she updated me on other relatives present asking about me. So I stayed up late that night, bonding and catching up with cousins staying in the same Renaissance Pere Marquette hotel. Anyway, I am on time for the wedding and there to enjoy other life-learning activities. So early Saturday, I joined Grayline tours around Louisiana – the 5-hour Oak Alley Creole Sugarcane Plantation tour and Katrina/ City tour – finishing up an hour before 7pm to prepare for the wedding, to fulfill a social responsibility.

However, when we arrived at church, my sister’s husband (the groom’s father) handed me his video camera and asked me to cover the entire proceedings). As I looked around there was only a still photographer, so I was the only official videographer – just imagine the moving around I did to make an excellent coverage. The wedding was very formal, ensemble/ entourage and guests were very elegant, well-organized to the details, as the bride / groom planned and dreamed about - culminated by all the attendees riding together on a 2-coach tram from the church to the French-style reception, featuring an open bar, cocktails, dancing and speeches – truly fabulous wedding! At the reception, many (on the bride’s side) were asking my Ate who the lady in green (me) was, who did an excellent coverage of the ceremonies, leading and giving the cue to the photographer on the best shots of the proceedings, since I was not at rehearsals; many also offered to take photos with me since I could not be in the church photos. My Ate responded them: ‘She is my sister and she’s an engineer so she can be pushy (whatever that meant?). My Sarah said: Mom, take it as a compliment to your effective work as videographer! Now, I know I do have additional skills and fallback job!

By midnight, most of the guests moved to the French Quarter area where our hotel was, along Bourbon St. where the merry-making costumed people of big Halloween stayed awake till the morning hours. I saw many colorful, weird costumes – some I want to delete from my memory bank! Sarah left early Sunday for her morning flight back to NJ, while I stayed on for Mass at the nearby Immaculate Conception church, then had brunch with other relatives who came from Florida, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, etc. Weddings are truly occasions for reunions and catching up with families you last saw 10, 20, 30, or more years ago, and enjoy listening to various family stories. Well, life is a box of chocolates; you never know what will turn up next!

Attached are 4 photos of: wedding and New Orleans tour. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG