March for Life - Part 1

   This past week I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Washington D.C. for the 40th annual March for Life.  Benedictine College took over 300 students to the March this year.  We were on the bus for 26 hours...and then 26 more hours on the way back.  We left campus Wednesday afternoon and arrived in DC on Thursday night.  I'll give you a little summary of how the trip went.

    Upon arriving in DC Abbot James Albers (the abbot of St. Benedict's Abbey in Atchison) said mass for us at a parish somewhere in the city.  We didn't get to the hotel (a fancy Holiday Inn in Arlington) until late.  Everyone was pretty exhausted.  It felt amazing to get to sleep stretched out again.  It is quite difficult to sleep on a bus.

    The March was the next day and we were up bright and early.  Unfortunately for us, it was only 23 degrees out.  I was wearing jeans with my pajamas under them, wool socks, two shirts, a sweatshirt and a coat (better be safe than sorry).  Fortunately it was relatively dry...last year the entire Mall was a mud pit.  We started the day off with mass at St. Peter's church, which is about a half mile from the capitol building and where all the Catholic politicians go to church.  Then we walked down to the mall to wait for the rally to start.  We were about an hour early and literally some of the first people to get there, so we found ourselves right up in the front by the stage.  For the record, 23 degrees Fahrenheit is pretty dang cold.  Especially when you are standing still for two hours.   By the time the rally finally started at noon my feet were started to hurt.  By the end of the rally they were very nearly numb.  Maybe next time I'll invest in feet warmers to put in my shoes (do they even make those? Because that would be legit.)

Me with Rick Santorum

    Anyway, I was really excited when I heard that one of the speakers at the rally would be Rick Santorum, one of my political idols and heroes. He gave a short but wonderful and heartfelt speech. He said, "Give these poor children who are all too often if they’re discovered in the womb to have a disability, all too often aborted, please give them a chance. Welcome them into our home as you here welcome them into our human family [...] You are the voice of the voiceless. You are those who stand for love in a world of death. And we are proud to be here with you." Then the march finally started. As we were standing there waiting to move out (it takes awhile for 650,000 people to get moving. Think traffic jam) I look over and see Santorum standing about 15 yards away from me. People are pressing around him, shaking his hand and taking pictures. Realizing this to be the chance of a lifetime, I pushed my way over towards him. I shook his hand and told him what a big fan of his I was. And then I got a picture with him. Easily one of the most awesome things that ever happened to me (along with Tebowing with Matt Maher...yes, I have a picture of that too) It made the painfully long bus ride, the $200 it cost me to take the trip, and the frozen feet, all worthwhile :-)

    The actual March took probably an hour(ish).  Halfway through it the snow that had been falling sparsely started coming down steadily.  It was pretty cool.  After getting to the Supreme Court all 300 BC students prayed a rosary together.  Then we all walked to the senate offices where Terry Gainer, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and a Benedictine alum, provided us with lunch/dinner.  After that a couple of my friends and I took the metro back to the hotel...after getting this awesome picture (with a very awesome person).  We finished off the night with dinner (yes, another dinner) in the "Vantage Point" Restaurant on the 17th floor of the hotel.

   To be continued...