Dear Editor,
Lisa Pampuch’s latest article regarding her religious beliefs
reminded me of why I can’t go completely down the road she
took.
Dear Editor,
Lisa Pampuch’s latest article regarding her religious beliefs reminded me of why I can’t go completely down the road she took. Like her, my religion was handed down from my family and like the Julia Sweeney in her story I attended 12 grades of Catholic schools.
There were always people questioning my beliefs but mostly they just tried to convince me that their way was the only true way. My mother had once explained to me why I was attending Catholic schools.
My father died of cancer when I was 5 years old. I can still see the old brick walls of the hospital in Stockton. I remember looking up at the window to his room from the courtyard. My little brother and I only went to his room once. We were allowed to see him the night before he died. He was 33 years old.
In his youth he had taken the same path as Lisa and Julia. That last night he made my mother promise that his children would be raised in her faith. He was facing what we all will face.He wanted his sons to have something to believe in. He did not want them to face it alone as he was. In the present times I hear a lot of stories like Lisa’s and Julia’s. It was almost my story. But I can never forget that hospital courtyard.
I know that someday my son will be looking up at my window as I did back then. My father left me a great gift. I will have something to believe in. I will not be alone.
Thank You, Dad.
Lee Petersen, Gilroy
