Awhile back, a nice lapsed Catholic girl named Heidi came to see my show. Afterward she gave me a big hug, and said she totally identified with my stories even though she was raised Catholic and I Protestant.
Heidi had a question for me. Like me, she struggled to navigate the relationship with her parents since leaving their church. Usually they just agreed to disagree, but lately, well, things had gotten out of hand.
After many years of cohabitating, Heidi and her boyfriend had decided to get married.
“Congratulations!” I said. “Your parents must be thrilled!”
“Um, well, not exactly,” she said, “They want me to get married in the Catholic Church. But I can’t.”