Sister Michele Morek’s “Lent Remembrance” is her desire to have a quality cross of ashes on her forehead for Ash Wednesday, and the smell of her apple orchards in bloom. She shares here thoughts about those days here.

“What I remember about Lent says more about the seasons of my life than the Liturgical season – like a couple of birthdays that fell on Ash Wednesday! When I was younger, I would seek out the priest who would give you a good solid cross of ashes, as opposed to the little smudge that would just invite our Mormon friends to tell me my face was dirty. That younger me wanted my ashes to last all day and hated to wash them off at night. Contrast this with when I was a teenager, and would try to encourage my bangs to fall over the smudge, then used a variety of excuses to “accidentally” wipe it off. Ah, Vanity!

“But my favorite memory is of our apple orchard coming into bloom, and walking through the fragrant aisles of apple trees as the petals fell like snow.”