The Bloede Family

Emmerson – Hi, My name is Emmerson.

Claire – And my name is Claire.

Emmerson – I am in 4th grade here at St Thomas. I have gone to school here for 5 years.

Claire – I’m in in 2nd grade here and have been here 3 years.

Emmerson – These are our little sisters, Audrey and Caroline.

Claire – St.Thomas means a lot to me and my family.

Emmerson – We have a lot of friends here and love the teachers.

Claire – And Father Michael is the best.

Emmerson – Thank you. Now my mom and dad would like to say something.

Neil Bloede

Thank you. We are the Bloedes. If you regularly come to 10:30 Mass you probably recognize us from over in Section 5. We are not typically front row people for obvious reasons.

When we were asked to say a few words about what STA means to us we weren’t sure what to say. Afterall, we have only been parishioners for around 5 years. But then we realized it was about our family and our children. So we decided to ask them what St. Thomas means to them.

Our youngest, Caroline, 3, when we asked her what St. Thomas means, she said Father Michael. For her, St. Thomas begins and ends with him. We feel blessed to have made a personal connection with Father Michael and we appreciate what he has done for our church and school so far.

Our Pre-Schooler, Audrey 5, said LOVE. I’m not sure there is more perfect answer than this. Maybe she listens more during mass than I thought. St. Thomas is a parish and school centered on the love of God.

Our 2nd Grader, Claire, 8, said HAPPY. And if you know Claire she is a happy child, and St. Thomas is a place she associates with that feeling, whether it is school or Mass.

Finally, our oldest Emmerson, 10, a 4th grader, said FRIENDS. I think this is probably a very typical answer for a 4th grader, but it speaks volumes about the larger community. Not only has she developed great friends at the school, we all have made many friends throughout the school and parish. St. Thomas has a great community of parishioners and parents committed to the success of the church and school, and this was on full display last night at the Art Auction.

Really, to sum it all up for our family here, St. Thomas is a community we want to be a part of, one whose values of peace, justice, and love we believe in, and one we want our children to grow in.

For us, St. Thomas is a happy place filled with God’s love that we share with our friends and Father Michael.