James and Heather Shannon reside in Sacramento, California. Heather Shannon began with the reason for their visit. “We’re here for the International Society of Technology in Education Conference in Chicago. And we’re visiting our cousins in Bloomington today and so we were looking for a parish along the way. And you guys are actually on the list of African American parishes for the Bishops Council, the USCCB. So, we found your name on the list.”

“We’re just on our way down to Bloomington and we’re going to return to Chicago this afternoon.”

Heather continued, “We attend St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento. We have two daughters and both of them graduated from Catholic high school and attended Catholic colleges.”

“James works for the California Lottery and I work for the Elk Grove Unified School District as a Technology Specialist. And I train the teachers on how to use their computers with the students. . . .It’s a tough job but I enjoy it.” She has been doing this for about twenty years. James followed on, “I’m an auditor for the State of California – make sure everything goes right.” When asked how they liked the service, James answered, “We loved it.” Heather added, “It was wonderful, very inspiring. The music was beautiful. The sermon was great.” And they both agreed, “The welcome was amazing.” The Shannons were a delightful couple and the Sacred Heart family hopes they will visit our parish whenever they visit the area.