For Ruben and Martha Lujan

My husband of 64 years, Ruben Lujan, 85 years old, is ill with Alzheimer’s disease and is living in a memory care facility in Sacramento, California. He and I happily served our Church and our community for all of our life. First one of the first team couples with Worldwide Marriage Encounter in California (1972), trained the first teams to take WWME to Mexico and all of Latin America, served by sharing contemplative prayer retreats based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius for many years and all while raising a family of seven children who graced us with eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. We hoped to live our golden years together, but this disease separated us leaving us with not enough money to care for him and for his needs now when he needs them most. Thankfully, our daughter offered her home for me to be able to live close to his facility. I am living on my Social Security and Medicare and Ruben on his and with the help of our children, we are trying to provide the care that Ruben needs but, none of us can fully provide for his increasing needs and the costs entailed. I, and our whole family, would appreciate any and all help we can receive to help Ruben receive the care he needs.

For all who know us, Ruben and I lived in Alhambra, California where we worked with Christian Family Movement, Cursillos en Cristiandad and during the early years of Worldwide Marriage Encounter and we are grateful for all the blessings received through so many who experienced the renewed graces of the Sacrament of Matrimony and later through the Contemplative Prayer Retreats, who cared for our children as we cared for other team couples’ children. So much love and so much care, generosity, caring and warmth from such a beautiful family throughout the U.S. We met so many beautiful couples and priests, Bishops and Cardinals throughout our service to the Church throughout the country. We met priests and couples from Africa, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Great Britain, India, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, and so many other places that I can’t even remember but they are always in my prayers. When Ruben was diagnosed early on with dementia and later with Alzheimer’s, our life together as lovers, a couple who had planned to live together “until death do us part.” Now, he lives in a memory care facility as I, at 84 years old, can no longer care for him. Some call it “the long goodbye.” It is a terrible disease, but we’ve accepted our life has changed and now we await the call from our Heavenly Father. All help from our family, friends, and people of good heart, is welcome and appreciated. God bless all of you and, Thank You.

Ruben and Martha Lujan