Coping with Loss: Embracing the Pain and Cherishing the Moments
Maria Holmes emphasizes that while the pain of losing a loved one never fully diminishes, the love shared can guide one through the darkest moments. Her message resonates with listeners, encouraging them to foster connections and be present in their relationships, especially during difficult times.
Maria Holmes, author of 'Connections: Making the Most of the Moment' discusses how to support those who have lost loved ones, with Maria sharing personal stories of loss, particularly the tragic death of her son in an automobile accident. She emphasizes the importance of embracing pain, cherishing memories, and maintaining connections. Maria shares her experiences of moving from Colombia to the U.S., integrating into a new culture, and finding strength through family, faith, and community. The conversation covers overcoming hardships, the power of love, and the importance of staying connected in moments of grief and joy.
[00:00] Introduction and Opening Thoughts
[00:57] Guest Introduction: Maria Holmes
[02:23] Maria's Journey and Early Life
[03:17] Family and Cultural Experiences
[08:27] Teaching and Community Involvement
[12:28] Faith and Personal Stories
[15:09] A Painful Accident on Big Bend
[15:50] Coping with Loss and Family Support
[16:26] Signs from a Loved One
[17:43] Discussing the Book 'Connections'
[18:01] A Husband's Struggles and Faith
[18:43] Childhood Trauma and Divine Purpose
[19:55] Faith and Community Support
[25:04] The Power of Poetry and Memories
[27:49] Honoring a Son's Memory
[29:23] A Message of Faith, Hope, and Love
[30:38] Closing Thoughts and Gratitude
#faithhopelove #gratitude #communitysupport #griefsupport #makingconnections
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00:00 - None
00:06 - Navigating Grief: Conversations with the Bereaved
00:57 - The Journey of Connection and Humanity
12:28 - The Importance of Faith, Family, and Cultural Experiences
13:10 - Healing Through Grief and Love
23:48 - The Journey of Grief and Support
28:30 - Celebrating Life and Connection
Arnold Stricker
What do you say to the family of someone who lost a loved one? What do you say to the mother of someone who lost a son? We're going to talk about that today on St. Louis in Tune. Welcome to St.
Louis in Tune and thank you for joining us for fresh perspectives on issues and events with everyday people who are making a difference difference in our society and world. I'm Arnold Stricker along with co host Mark Langston who is on assignment.
Our return to civility today is when you see a friend who's feeling down go out of your way to lift their spirits. Someone just noticing that someone is down is helpful in and of itself. And that's especially true today. Maria Holmes is our guest.
Maria, welcome to St. Louis and Tune.
Maria Holmes
Thank you so much for having me.
Arnold Stricker
You have endured something that many people have lived through over the course of time.
And one thing that parents never want to ever think about is bearing their child and having to look over their body in a casket and deal with the aftermath. And that's really what I want to talk with you about. I have one main question for you.
Maria Holmes
Okay.
Arnold Stricker
What advice do you have for people who have been through what you've been through?
Maria Holmes
Okay. So the most important thing that I will let the other people know that had lost somebody that they love so much is to always embrace it.
Embrace the pain, but also embrace the memories. Treasure them.
Live the moment that you had with them and the moment that you live in now, but cherishing their love, sharing their memory, and also keeping their voice and work alive.
Arnold Stricker
And how do you do that?
Maria Holmes
By sharing your story with others, by helping others.
There are so many people that I have helped by sharing my story because they were at the point of anger and sad, sadness, hopefulness when they lost somebody.
Arnold Stricker
Tell us about that story. Let's go back to the beginning. You're the author of a book called Connections Making the Most of the Moment.
It is a journey of love, heartbreak, forgiveness, family, faith and joy. Let's start at the beginning. You're from Colombia.
Maria Holmes
I'm from Colombia, South America.
Arnold Stricker
Not the Columbia, Missouri?
Maria Holmes
No, no, no, no. Colombia, South America. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
Okay. And you came here when we came.
Maria Holmes
To this country in 1969.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
And it was a beautiful experience because we did not know what it was going to be like going to a new country and to experience the snow for the first time was such amazing.
And the culture and the food that we never had before, it just opened our minds even bigger to appreciate what we have before and what we have now to enrich somebody's life is the best.
Arnold Stricker
And you got here into the St. Louis area with your family?
Maria Holmes
Yes, I came with my father and my mother and my three sisters and my four brothers.
Arnold Stricker
And did you spend.
Maria Holmes
And my aunt.
Arnold Stricker
Did you speak English at the time?
Maria Holmes
Well, my father had gotten us a teacher back in Columbia, an American boy that we thought he was the coolest guy because he wore tennis shoes. And we thought, whoa. So, yes, we're taking classes. So we thought, yeah, we're ready.
Little did we know, when we arrived at the airport and we heard all the people speaking in English, we thought, wow, do we really know the language? It took time. It took time to learn it. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
So you went to school and how old were you again?
Maria Holmes
I was 12.
Arnold Stricker
You were 12.
Maria Holmes
And so they have told my parents. My dad's a doctor, a psychiatrist. So they told my parents that they will have a home for us to stay.
Little did we know that the home was going to be on the fifth floor of the state hospital. It was an amazing experience, too.
Arnold Stricker
I bet you have some stories.
Maria Holmes
I do, I do.
Arnold Stricker
That would fill another book.
Maria Holmes
Exactly, exactly. But it taught us a lot about humanity.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Maria Holmes
It taught us how to really care for others. It's not just about us. And that's what I want to emphasize on my book, because my son love humanity so much.
Arnold Stricker
Was that something you got from your parents or from the experiences that you had living here in the States?
Maria Holmes
Both.
Arnold Stricker
Okay, Both.
Maria Holmes
I saw my father taking care of a lot of people in my country out of his heart. Out of his heart, yes. I want to continue doing that and to see my son, how much he helped others. Let me give you an example.
We met this girl and this guy, and she's like, this guy. I don't like him. I don't want him to be my boyfriend. I don't want nothing to do with him.
But Andrew worked with us, and now we're getting married on Andrew's birthday. Now they have two children. Yes. And then also I have a grandson. And he was being bullied. Okay. And his parents went to talk to the principal.
They didn't get nowhere. But my son went, he says, I'll take care of this. And the principal said, you're not a family member, you're just the uncle. Okay?
So my son walked away and had Andrew, they have the same name, to show him the boy that was nurturing him nicely. So he did. And my son just had a talk with this boy, just had a good, positive talk of affirmation.
But also, you need to come to an agreement of how you're going to treat others. That was the last time my grandson was bullied.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Maria Holmes
Do you see what I mean? Connection. Making the most of the mommy.
Such a powerful world, Especially at these times when there's just a lot of anger, there's a lot of disagreement at home, at school, at work. It's a time that we need to come together to make connections, to make memories, to make dreams.
Arnold Stricker
And what you're saying is something that doesn't happen overnight.
Maria Holmes
It does not happen overnight.
Arnold Stricker
It has to be. Because obviously he learned that by watching you and your husband.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
And he learned that also by watching his older sisters.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
And so he was developing that and taking that all in. And many times atmospheres in families are not that what I would call congenial. Some of them are hostile families.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
There's hostility within a family. So what do you suggest as it relates to that?
Maria Holmes
Okay, so no family's perfect.
Arnold Stricker
That's correct.
Maria Holmes
No family is perfect. And we all come from different families and we're all different. Okay. And every family is gonna have the ups and downs. My family is not perfect.
Believe me. We have a lot to say about my family. But the main thing, the most important thing is that we are united, even though we're different.
And we try to work that out.
Arnold Stricker
Now, when you say united, explain that a little bit.
Maria Holmes
United. Family have to work together as a team.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
They have to work together as a team. Meaning that you might ask questions like, how do you feel? What will you do?
Instead of saying, this is what you need to do, this is what we need to do. No. You combine the difference to come to an agreement. My daughter who is a nurse, and my other daughter who is disabled. Okay.
They were so good to my son. So good. We always have people in our homes. Always. That was a lot. It meant a lot to us to be helping others.
Arnold Stricker
And a lot of times when other people come like their friends, they feel that this is a comfortable atmosphere to be in. Plus, you can watch your kids too.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
If your kids feel having their are comfortable having their friends over, that's even speaks more highly.
Maria Holmes
I'm glad you brought that up because I'm not from this country. Learn another culture is it takes time. It takes time.
When I had my children, I said to my husband, I am not taking my kids to no daycare or babysitters. I became the daycare mother for the school district in Kirkwood. I raised many children in my home.
Six o'clock in the morning Till six o'clock at night. Okay. And I was the mother, the Rune mother. I was the Girl Scoutmother. I did everything together.
And if the kids wanted to go somewhere, I the one that did all the driving, they wanted to spend the night, they spend the night in my home, all the different kids. I was always involved in the community, serving and helping. And I did it in my home.
Or taking sports, other activities, and even helping the community.
Arnold Stricker
By teaching adults Spanish?
Maria Holmes
Yes, yes. I'm a Spanish teacher. So I do teach because I want to enrich the children's world.
I taught the adult level for 17 years and I've been teaching Spanish since the 90s. Okay. Many schools also privately, but I also teach the heritage, the food, the dancing.
Right now I'm teaching my four year old children how to do the cumbia. The cumbia is the number one dance in my country. And what does the cumbia means? It means relationship. Okay. It talks about the people of my country.
It talks about the Indians, the Africans and the Spaniards through our dances. We're telling you a story.
Arnold Stricker
Wow. Now, are you familiar with the International Institute of St. Louis?
Maria Holmes
A little bit.
Arnold Stricker
Okay. So were you involved or were your parents involved with them when you came over from Colombia?
Maria Holmes
No, no, we were involved with that store that's over here. It's a Spanish store.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
La Tropicana.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
So really, other than the university kind of supporting your father and the rest of the family, there was really no home base group or friends that were over here or other relatives?
Maria Holmes
No.
Arnold Stricker
You guys were over here by yourself then?
Maria Holmes
Yes, yes. And it was very difficult for my mother.
Arnold Stricker
Pretty scary.
Maria Holmes
Very scary. Yes, very scary. Because we're like, we didn't know. And we went to school to Holy Innocence. That was our first school.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
Okay. So we had a walk to the school in the snow.
Arnold Stricker
That was a new experience.
Maria Holmes
Very new. Very new. Because they're so different.
And then in the afternoons they will take us out of the classes to teach us how to speak English and how to read English. You know what kind of books they used? Dr. Seuss book.
Arnold Stricker
Really?
Maria Holmes
Yeah. And I'm like, what? That's not a really good book. Okay. Because there's just a lot of different language in the way they speak.
Arnold Stricker
Right?
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
It's not something that is normal conversational.
Maria Holmes
It's not. Not at all. Not at all.
Arnold Stricker
If you go to someplace and they talk like that, we'll have to wonder.
Maria Holmes
Yes, exactly.
Arnold Stricker
Is Dr. Seuss land.
Maria Holmes
Yes. Yeah. It was an experience. Especially when we had our first lunch. And there was another doctor from my country living at the hospital too.
So they brought us groceries and they're like, okay, we're going to make you lunch. And they brought this can of soup. And we're like, can? You mean there's soup in a can? No, how can that be?
All of us were in a circle looking at this can of soup. In my country, everything is homemade, right? It's homemade. And then they say they're going to make us a sandwich from this jar of peanut butter.
It was something so new to us that it really enriched our life. It really opens our minds. You get so comfortable where you're at that you don't know what's out there and you appreciate even more.
Arnold Stricker
And I get from your book that your faith, not only family, but faith is very important to you.
Maria Holmes
Faith is very important. And that is the high three points I want to get across my book. It is love, faith and hope. Yes. Can I channel.
Arnold Stricker
That's actually scriptural.
Maria Holmes
It is. It is God, faith, hope and love.
Arnold Stricker
But the greatest of these is God's love. Love, right.
Maria Holmes
That's right. I had a student. I had a student at the school that I used to teach. His father died. Okay. Something that they inherited. And the mothers.
My student's mother was very angry at the mother of the son that died. And so my student's mother called me. She goes, can you please talk to my mother in law? She's just so angry with me all the time.
I don't know what to do. I said, of course I'd be more than happy. So the mother come over my home, I light up a candle and I listen and listen is very powerful.
And you share and you pray. And we did that over time. And I just listened to her pain. I share my pain. It was so painful the day I lost my son. It is just unbelievable.
It takes you to a different level that you don't want to experience.
Arnold Stricker
Would you say the pain never what I would call diminishes, but you're able to move through it? Or does it diminish over time, but you still know it's there in the background?
Maria Holmes
It's there always is there. Always. What helps me move is the love that we have with my son. We have so much love. Our experience was so powerful. We had a connection.
Arnold Stricker
You had a kind of a very special connection.
Maria Holmes
We did, yes. Yes. And all that, as time went on, was helping me healing.
Especially putting all this down in words, writing down all the experience, all the pain, all the joy and As I come together to realize how powerful love is. Love is always there. It's always there.
Arnold Stricker
And you knew that prior to his death, which was, by the way, from an automobile accident. Correct?
Maria Holmes
Yes. Yes. And this is what's so weird. That day that my son had an accident that was going to be his last day at his job. Okay.
So his friend forgot his uniform and he asked my son for the ride. My son said, okay. So they dropped on 44 on Big Bend. So when they got back on Big Bend to go to work, a girl was speeding.
A girl that I raised in my home. I knew the family very well. They're teachers in Kirkwood. She crushed my son. Yes. And it was the most harmful experience. Such a painful experience.
When you see your son in that kind of situation and not knowing how to help or what to do, you feel so helpless.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Maria Holmes
Because you're the parent.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Maria Holmes
You gotta make them feel better, take care of the problem. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
How did your daughters react to all of that?
Maria Holmes
Very badly. Very badly. Because we're so close. We were on top of the world. Our family was on top of the world. All of us together.
And my friends will say, I never seen your children fight. They never did. They never did. Until they got older. Older. Yeah. So, yeah, they took it very hard. But as we came together.
As we came together, talking about it, meaningful life, he's always going to be there with us. He's always going to be there. He has come to see us through dreams, through smells, through butterflies.
Arnold Stricker
Explain that.
Maria Holmes
All right, let me explain that to you. So as I'm teaching the school and I'm walking down the hallway, carrying my books, I'm going up, down the steps.
I feel my son smell the lotion that he always wear. And I'm like, wow, this is Andrew. But the peace that comes over you, the peace is something that I cannot tell you because it's a piece of heal.
It's a piece. Okay, he's here. It's like you feel what you felt before. That happiness, that joyfulness, just for that moment. And I thank God for that.
I thank God for that. Another day. So we're in our rooms and we hear this big knock on the window. And the cross falls to the ground.
Those moments, those special moments, we feel peace. Yes, I know. It's very powerful what God can do for you. It's very powerful. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Louis in Tune. We're talking to Maria Holmes about her book Connections. Making the most of the moment.
And this book is available in English and En Espanol, so you can get that from Amazon. And check that out. You also have a story about your husband.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
It seems like when things go wrong, they seem to go wrong.
Maria Holmes
They do. And you know what? I'm so glad you met. You brought that up, too. It's not that I like bad stories either. My husband is in a nursing home.
I asked God, why. Why me? You do that out of desperation. Okay? You do that because you're like, why is this happening? What are you trying to tell me, God?
What are you trying to teach me? Is it because you leave me live? Is it because you gave me that opportunity? Maybe.
When I was a child, I was seven years old, coming home from school with my best friend, sitting on a bus. A train hit the school bus and threw me out of the window.
Arnold Stricker
Oh, my gosh.
Maria Holmes
Yes. With my girlfriend. She died. And I was in a coma, and I had no bones were broken. My hand. My father saved my life because I was dying. I was dying.
And the doctors wanted to give me all these medications because they told my father I was going to have all these issues. And my father says, no, she don't need any of those medications. We pray, go to the mountains and pray. Never taking no medications.
Why did God let me live? Is it because he was preparing me to deal with this? Maybe.
Maybe to take care of my husband, took care of my son and my older daughter that's disabled. I look at that, I don't say, oh, my gosh, what a burden. No, no. I thank God that I'm able to take care of them.
Arnold Stricker
And when you brought that up and you said that many people get bitter at God. They do, and they don't think that he is taking care of them. And exactly what you were saying, why me?
And I will say this that many times we have a misperception of who he is and what his purpose is in our lives. Because many people will say they use him as a vending machine.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
And they'll put whatever they want in and expect what they put in to come out. But that's not the case in life and especially in your life. So how did you avoid being bitter at him?
And how did your parents avoid being bitter at him?
And all the things that you've been through, your own personal tragedy as a child, the loss of your son, the disabling of your older daughter, the situation with your husband. How do you avoid being bitter at God?
Maria Holmes
Okay, that's a good question. As I watched my parents Growing up, having my brother Juan, polio with polio at 2 years old is very painful for my parents.
And it was a time when the vaccine was coming out and my father, being a doctor, gave it to us. But it killed the nerve on my brother's legs. I also had polio and so did my mother. But the inocular nerves.
But I watched my parents take it on my brother. My brother slept in the room with my parents. Okay. And my parents pray a lot. The church was in my home until my father had the church built. Okay.
Then I was in the accident. I slept with my parents in the same bed for a year. My brother Juan there too.
As I watched that, as I saw that example, a strong example of dedication with love and gratitude.
Because when you are being in the moment, being in the moment, being thankful of the little things, but also caring and nurturing and providing is even stronger now that I have experienced so much pain. I get that from my parents, from God, from his love, from the people in my church.
For the support that I do have, which is very uplifting, helps me a lot. And I want those people to know the people that are hearing me or have similar situation. Find a group, find a team.
Be united, be hopefully and always thank God. Pray to God every day. Because your faith is so strong.
Arnold Stricker
That's really important what you just said, because there are some people who are by themselves or they feel that by themselves.
And if they don't have a group of family supporting them or a group of faith believing people with them who support them, or maybe they don't have neighbors who support them. And in our society today, we seem to be pushing those things away. We move away from family.
We don't want to know our neighbors because we don't want to be in their business. Individuals who are.
Who maybe grew up with faith, have maybe walked away or have never been exposed to that, all of those things are things that kind of hold us together.
Maria Holmes
Yes.
Arnold Stricker
Through. Through situations like you've been through.
Maria Holmes
That's right. That's right. When I lost my son, my life ended. Part of me died. I have to be honest. Part of me died. It was me and my husband.
We don't want to continue. So what do we do? Where do we go? My family took us into their home. My sisters, my brothers. If I didn't have that, I don't know.
Then my other family from Colombia took us to Colombia for a while. You have to be with support group. You got to find something. You got to find a person. God put us Together to help one another.
Arnold Stricker
Not to be alone.
Maria Holmes
Not to be alone. That's how we know God is here. Through people, through friends, through family.
So when we were in Colorado with my sister and her husband's mother and father, the father, he don't pray, he don't go to church. Until he read my book. He believed. 90 years old.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Maria Holmes
He believed. He goes to church. And the mother wrote me this beautiful note. I have your book next to my night table. Thank you. Thank you.
Because of you, my husband praying and goes to church.
Arnold Stricker
Now, I have a question for you that relates to that, because in the book, you have a lot of poems. And I don't know if your son was a poet prior to his death or you were a writer or things like that.
Were these things from your journal or did you just sit down? Because many times, writing is a release of emotion and you can put things together. What? What was that?
Maria Holmes
Okay. I tell you, poetry is my thing.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
Okay. And it was my son and it was my daughter. My daughter Angela was chosen in second grade. The best writer of Cork school districts.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Maria Holmes
Yes. Growing up at home, my father is all into poetry. He has a lot of books, but he used to make us memorize poetries growing up.
And they will have to tell him back to him. Okay. But all the poetry that I wrote in my books are true stuff. My experience, it all happened. It's nothing made up.
Like, you see this bracelet that I'm wearing? You know how many pearls are 22.
Arnold Stricker
For the years of your son.
Maria Holmes
My son was 22.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Maria Holmes
This is a gift that he had ordered for me for my birthday. You are loved.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Maria Holmes
He was never able to give it to me. All right, I got it. I got somebody deliver it to me. This was from your son for your birthday. I sit down and put it into a poetry. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Maria Holmes
I included my son's writing in this book since he was a little boy until he passed, because he was going to be a psychologist. He loved humanity. He loved humanity. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
And it seems like his friends really loved him.
Maria Holmes
They did. His friend loved him so much. So where I work at the ymca, there's many families that knew my son. And they come and tell me.
They come and tell me how much they love him and how much Andrew talk about his family. How much he loved us. How much he loved us. What a good person he was. What a good friend.
There was a party right before he passed away, and all his friends were there. There's colored people there, too. So the person that was having the party said, oh, this guy's got to go. He's not invited.
And my son went up to him and said, look, if he's not invited, none of us are invited.
Arnold Stricker
There you go.
Maria Holmes
So they all got to stay. Don't ever be afraid to stand up and speak up for what is right. For what is right. That's right.
Arnold Stricker
Do you have special things that you do on your son's birthday and your son's. The date of his death?
Maria Holmes
Yes. And Christmas.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
What are. What are some of those things?
Maria Holmes
Some of the things. No, that's okay. That's fine. So on his birthday, I will make his favorite food, which is Colombian food. He loved Colombian food. Okay.
And on the day of his death, we have all his friends together, and we go to Kirk Park. Okay. And then I made this big butterfly, okay. And all his friends sign it and put. They put a message for Andrew.
And then we have my students come and sing as a memory. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Maria Holmes
That's so important. Very important. Yes. Yeah. That's what I like to do.
Arnold Stricker
Okay. Christmas.
Maria Holmes
Christmas time, I put the tablecloth, his placemat, by his table that he shared, and then I write a letter to him. Yes. Because I know he's in heaven. I know he's with God. My son, when he was a little boy, he knew all the books of the Bible. All of them.
And he would sit down and watch all the movies. We never told him he wanted to do it. Watch Jesus birth, the crucifixion, the Resurrection. He would just sit there and watch all those movies.
He was willing to. God's love. Yes.
Arnold Stricker
He was tuned in from an early age.
Maria Holmes
He was. He was.
Arnold Stricker
I want you to do something that I've never asked anyone to do. Speak to those listeners in Spanish. Give them a message of faith, hope, and love.
Maria Holmes
Okay. Palas Personas que hablan lo mas importante que s quiero de sir sobre su fe amor. Esperanza esiemprestar en el momento.
En el momento que estedes tnenos ilocetu estener lamor el amor. Siempre. Siempre constedes.
Arnold Stricker
What did you say in English?
Maria Holmes
I said to the people that speak Spanish, the most important thing I want to say about hope, faith, and love is to always be in the moment. In the moment. Every memory of what you had and what you have now, to treasure it, to always have it. But most important, with love. Love always there.
Can I just close by saying one thing?
Arnold Stricker
Absolutely.
Maria Holmes
Okay. We just spend Thanksgiving Day a time to Celebrate a time to write thankful poems, appreciation for one another.
Love is what we long for, grieve for and by making equality stronger of ourselves to keep the spirit in our love alive in praying, listening to God's spirit. God is always there. God will hear you and you feel our love. One's love. We choose to love even when the relationship is difficult.
We choose to believe when at times we feel hopefulness to help each other through time of hurt, unkind feelings or words to be in union with one another, to forgive one another, to form our heart because God is near. God is calling each one of us and you can do this to find joy.
Celebrating life your life by making the most of the moment through cooking, games, activities. Connection is the energy that exists between one another. When we feel, we see, we hear. We value strength from relationship.
One has a family or friends. Making the most of the moment, building it, making memories. We don't need to spend time disagreeing, hurting one another. That is very unhealthy.
What a blessing it will be to wake up in the morning, to come together in the present moment, connecting with one another, making the most of the moment. What an amazing way to improve your physical health, your psychological well being. We all human need it. It is essential to every aspect of our life.
Connections Friend. Such a profound word. Very profound. We don't need to be in isolation or division of anger. Beloved, appreciate, cherish and treasure your moment.
How to nurture one's relationship with God with yourself through the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We love because God loved us first. John 4, 16, 19.
Arnold Stricker
Amen.
Maria Holmes
Thank you. Muchas gracias.
Arnold Stricker
We've been talking to Maria Holmes. She's the author of Making the Most of the Moment. Connections is a journey of love, heartbreak, forgiveness, family, faith and joy.
Maria, I want to thank you for being here today.
Maria Holmes
Thank you so much.
Arnold Stricker
That's all for this hour. Thank you for joining us. If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional shows at STL in T.
Consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, podchaser or your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue to grow. I want to thank Bob Berthiselle for our theme music and co host Mark Langston.
And we thank you for being a part of our community of curious minds. St. Louis in tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network.
Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy and let your light shine. For St. Louis in Tune, I'm Arnold Stricker, SA.
Maria Holmes
Author
Author Maria Amparo de Fatima Holmes is a devoted wife, a loving mother and a dedicated teacher with a passion for enriching the lives of those whom she touches. Born in Columbia South America, Maria and her family moved to North America and made a home in St. Louis, Missouri when she was a young girl. She married the love of her life, Thomas Holmes in 1976. They raised three beautiful, children, Angela, Anna and Andrew, who shared a very special bond. Maria is very proud of her Colombian heritage and has spent the past twenty years teaching pre-school to adult learners the Spanish language. She shares her Columbian traditions and culture through food, language, dancing and the love of living a good life with family. To enrich and expand the minds of young people is what Maria really values and strives to do every day. She knows that learning and having rich experiences improves understanding, communication and will lead to new opportunities for all people, and especially children. Maria's role as a mother is what she treasures most. She was inspired to write Connections: Making the Most of the Moment after her son Andrew passed in November 2010 from complications from a previous car accident.
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