Issuu

NOVEMBER 2009

VOL. XV, NO. 2

Bufalini family will always have ties to Ursulines

By Dan Heckel, OSUA

rsuline Associates have ministered side by side with Ursuline Sisters for 26 years, often helping to support families in some way. This is the story of how the Ursuline Sisters helped a future associate couple start their family. When Michael and Marcy Bufalini lived in Memphis, Tenn., they became friends with Sisters Maureen Griner and Margaret Ann Zinselmeyer. Around November 1999, the Bufalinis decided to pursue private adoption as the best way to build their family. “This was after lots of prayerful thought and it was a very difficult decision,” Marcy Bufalini said. “One aspect of private adoption (as compared to agency facilitated adoption) is that seeking your child is completely YOUR responsibility. It’s a little daunting. “Like many couples in our situation, we created ‘business cards’ saying that we were hoping to adopt a child,” Marcy said. “It included a toll-free phone number and our picture. We began distributing them timidly to friends and family. It was a pretty awkward thing to do at the time.” The couple had moved to Silver Spring, Md., in 1998 for work purposes and to be closer to family. Shortly after their adoption adventure began, Marcy, who works for FedEx, took a trip to Memphis for business. She planned to dine with Sisters Maureen and Margaret Ann, who she described as “some of our most-missed friends,” but learned that the sisters had inadvertently “double booked” dinner that night with two Ursuline Sisters who were traveling through Memphis. “We considered rescheduling, but decided to just have one big dinner group; what a fortunate decision that was,” Marcy said. Those guests were Sister Rosemary Keough and Sister Mary Angela Matthews. Sister Rosemary was returning from the Mexican American Cultural Center in San

Ursuline Associates Michael and Marcy Bufalini of Silver Spring, Md., pose with their children, Joe and Anna, in front of the Mount Saint Joseph Chapel in June 2009. The Ursuline Sisters played an important role in bringing Joe into their lives.

Antonio, in preparation for her work at Centro Latino with Sister Fran Wilhelm. Sister Mary Angela was her traveling companion. “During dinner, I talked about our plans to adopt and showed them our card,” Marcy said. “At that point, Sister Rosemary asked me if we were interested in adopting a Hispanic child. I told her that we were open to all possibilities. “Someone at the table asked how many cards we had,” Marcy said. “I told them that we printed them ourselves and could make as many as needed. Then Sister Maureen asked if I could make about 150 and give them to her, she could take them to the Mount for an upcoming Ursuline gathering. I was a little surprised by this. Of course, I said ‘yes.’ The next day my husband began printing cards and we sent them quickly to Memphis for Sister Maureen to take to the Mount.” As time passed, the Bufalinis met with a woman in Pennsylvania who was looking to place her as-yet-unborn child. “We talked with her for months and were confident that she would place her baby with us,” Marcy said. “Sadly, her child did not survive. It was a surprise to her, us, and even her doctors. We were all shocked by this event.” The couple was apprehensive about where their adoption journey might lead next, Marcy said. They never expected that it would begin with a phone call to Michael’s office in June 2000. Sister Fran, who began working with Hispanics at Centro Latino in 1993, was attending a birth as a translator as she had done countless times before. Sister Fran had attended prenatal doctors’ appointments with the mother-to-be so she could translate English into Spanish for her. She had Continued on page 3