Pete & Repeat

I am part of a vast human family. I am a link in a mighty chain. And because I am never alone, I have no fear of loneliness.

Years ago, for my niece’s third birthday, her mother threw a party. I can remember walking into the house and immediately surveying the landscape. It looked like The Lord of the Flies: toddlers screaming, crying, fighting over toys, throwing pieces of cake, howling for their mothers. The chaos was crippling—literally. One little scamp charged me and wrapped her arms around my legs in a vise-like grip. Immediately, I froze. God, what do I do now? I thought. The child’s mother soon freed me, and suddenly something concretized in that moment: This is not for me.

And I’m not sorry about it. Though I have always loved spending time with my nieces over the years, I also relish getting in my car and going back to an environment I can actually control. While marriage and children are the building blocks of any society, it is a calling unheeded by many. According to a study by the US Census Bureau, “singleperson households increased fivefold since 1960, from 7 million to 36 million.” Marriage and family are desirable for countless people; for others, however, it’s not enough.

I deeply admire those who raise children: There is perhaps no harder job one can undertake. It’s just not something I want. As a single, I enjoy certain freedoms that married people do not. I am spared recitals and soccer games, PTA meetings and midnight feedings. But I’m not lazy. Because I am not tethered to a family of my own, I have the freedom to assist friends, family, and neighbors as the need arises.

Because I have aging parents, I’m relieved that I have the freedom and the geographical proximity to help them if and when they require it. If I had a family of my own, I don’t know that I’d have the availability or the mental bandwidth to keep everything afloat. It’s more than an even trade.

But if I stand back and look at this from a different angle, I am reminded that we are never truly alone. I am part of a vast human family. I am a link in a mighty chain. And because I am never alone, I have no fear of loneliness.

In his 2017 TED Talk, Pope Francis eloquently spoke to all believers—regardless of their marital status—about the need to shore up our whole human family. “We all need each other, none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent ‘I,’ separated from the other,” the pope said. “And we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone.”

These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name Eight ways in which they’re not the same. (Answers below)

GET THE BOOK

FUN FOR ALL AGES!

Go online to order:

Shop.FranciscanMedia.org

For ONLY $3.99 Use Code: SAMPETE —Christopher Heffron