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Note: Serenity Retreats are nondenominational, ecumenical and spiritual rather than specifically religious. Only spiritual leaders familiar with Twelve Step programs lead Serenity Retreats. The leaders may be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, ministers or laypersons.

From Betty Madden and Susan Mendez

If we had to describe our retreat at the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center this past January 2013 in three words, they would be: Spiritual, enlightening and fun. There were 94 dedicated retreatants who returned to Graymoor for the second retreat at the new house.

Being the weekend of the Epiphany we were welcomed with many beautifully decorated Christmas trees. There were at least four to greet the retreatants. Along the hallway leading to the main dining room there were dozens of Christmas mangers on display. They represented countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, United States, Canada, Italy, France, Caribbean and Ireland, to mention only a few. The favorite was the Charlie Brown interpretation of that night in Bethlehem.

Group photo from Serenity Retreat in Morristown NJ held on March 8-10, 2013

Leader Joe Pack Arnold with the Co-Captain Karen DiPasquale and Captain Lynn Nizich

Sister Bonnie Kelly, a longtime favorite Serenity Retreat leader, has passed on to her next experience. She left us in mid-January 2013 after a long and productive life as a nun, a professor and a leader. I loved sharing retreats with her in Tupelo, Memphis and New Jersey. Sister Bonnie had an amazing wit and saw life as a fascinating and amusing adventure. After she and I met, we began referring to each other as our “new best friend.” The newness continued and never wore off. She came to Memphis once to visit with some Sister friends she had here a long time ago when she was a young Sister in Memphis. She consented to sleeping at my house during that Memphis visit and, at that time, she shared a story of her tragic infant days.

Bonnie told me that she was born to a mother who died in childbirth. Baby Bonnie’s father, in his grief and confusion, gave his infant daughter to an orphanage and went on with his life. This abandoned baby was left alone in a crib for hours and hours each day, only being fed and dressed at scheduled times each day. The consequence was that young Bonnie was a child labeled as one that “failed to thrive” leaving her without the usual skills of communication and interaction with other people.

From an abandoned beginning, Bonnie managed to overcome many of life’s obstacles, become a Sister in the Catholic Church, a Professor of Humanities in a Long Island college and to be a retreat leader who guided thousands of women and men on a spiritual path. Bonnie is a heroine and role model for me.

Good-bye, my friend Bonnie. Thank you for making my life better. Your Star is shining brightly on High.

Mona Sides-Smith, President
Serenity Retreat League, Inc.