Radical Grace
January – March 2008

An Ongoing Internship

The Radical Grace Tenth Anniversary Issue was going to press when my husband and I began working for the CAC as the Tepeyac Guest House managers in the fall of 1997.   Back then, Wendy Corry and Shari Summers were Co-Directors, and the CAC was based in the Holy Family barracks-turned-parish building; all the retreats were hosted at the Madonna Retreat Center—nobody came to programs with cell phones, and the CAC didn’t even have a web site.  Locally, Marie Nord (original Tepeyac manager) was founding Erda Gardens, Albuquerque’s first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Chuck and Mary Ann Fiske were leading their other-directed lives, inspiring interns with their radical simplicity and pacifism. Nationally, the country was still incensed about the Gulf War, and the prophetic voice of Phil Berrigan rang strong about our industrial-military-complex.  No one could have believed an Iraq War was looming on the horizon (or that we would see another George Bush become President—twice!).
            Marie Nord, Mary Ann Fiske, Phil Berrigan, interns such as Bert White from southeast England, and local volunteers like Sr. Mary Jo Boland have all passed on.  The children who used to play in our midst at the CAC have grown up and gone out into the world while my own two children now play in their stead. The Center has expanded and restructured itself.  There seem to be no good options in Iraq, and no one can claim moral high ground with regard to their stance on “Bush’s War,” we are all complicit.  Self-knowledge and world-knowledge are inextricably entwined.
            I was 26-years-old back then when the CAC was turning ten.  I had wanted to do a CAC internship since my early twenties, and I joked with many that being at the guest house was my form of an extended internship. . . .

Genny O'Herron worked for the CAC in various capacities from 1997 to 2002.  She continues to reside in Albuquerque with her sons Sam (who was born at Tepeyac Guest House) and Gabe.

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