I communicated with my good friend Alice LaBorde's daughter, Sara, through email during the late afternoon and evening. Sara kept me informed about Alice's last day here in this world.
My heart hurts as I say good-bye to one of the influential women in my life. I met Alice and her husband Pete while I was serving as pastor at St. Theresa Parish in San Benito. They were Winter Texans living at Fun-N-Sun Mobile Home Park. We immediately took a liking to one another and thus began the start of a wonderful friendship and my adoption into their family as one of their own kids.
I have many great memories of spending time with Pete and Alice. We'd go out for breakfast after weekday morning Masses, work on parish projects together, visit Progreso, Mexico, attend St. Patrick's Day Parties at Fun-in-Sun and shared home cooked meals by Alice herself. Her banana cream pie was INCREDIBLE!!! Although Pete died several years ago, Alice continued to regularly visit Texas and the many good friends she made there during the years that she and Pete resided in San Benito.
I was blessed to host her on several of those visits. Alice, Bea Rodriguez, Nicho Mancillas and I shared many good times together. We travelled to Louisiana, Mexico City and Europe. We laughed a lot and enjoyed each other's company.
Her last three visits to Texas were to celebrate my 20th anniversary to the priesthood, my 50th birthday and a trip in the fall of 2012 to check out the possibility of renting a place for the winter months at Long Island Village in Port Isabel, Texas.
I went to bed praying for Alice to be at peace and when I awoke on Tuesday morning I had an email from Sara saying that Alice, aka mom, had passed away on Monday, May 12th at 5:45pm. She is now at peace. I love and miss already.
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