Following the loss of our first baby through an adoption failure, though I experienced a beautiful joy in that suffering it was certainly accompanied by great sorrow. One of the most difficult parts for me was to have to return to work. I had never felt called to the career life. From the beginning of my years as a married woman my desire was in motherhood, and living the life of a wage earning wife never seemed to fulfill a calling I would continuously hear during those years without babies.

On Monday, December 19, 2005, my husband and I were driving to La Crosse to do some Christmas shopping. As we were on the outskirts of the city I suddenly had the thought to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We were about to pass the turn-off for the shine when I said to my husband, "Turn here, I want to go to the Shrine!"

Dear Thomas:

I want to thank you for the opportunity to add the photo and relic of St. Gianna to my practice.

Chris and I were married in 1998 and we were quickly blessed in our marriage with a pregnancy.  Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at 9 weeks.  Though we had originally planned on waiting a year into our married life to start having children, this gift of life and its subsequent loss left us with the desire to immediately bring more children into our marriage.

October 13, 2008

Dear Mr. McKenna,

On behalf of all of us at St. Gerard Obstetrics and Gynecology, I wish to express my appreciation to you and to the St. Gianna Physician's Guild for facilitating the enshrinement of the relic of St. Gianna here in our office. We are most grateful to you; we seriously respect the privilege that is ours to be custodians of this relic and picture of our beloved saint.