Bill Cochran saw the mistake as soon as he opened the email on Oct. 30. It was an invitation to San Francisco Solano parish’s annual Harvest Dinner, and it was addressed to him and his wife, Cheryle. But Cheryle had passed away a few months earlier. Bill emailed the parish to correct the mistake.
His email was received by Lynne Pantano, an event volunteer who is also a teacher at St. Junipero Serra Catholic School. She replied with a promise to update the parish mailing list and offered her condolences. Then, something made her send an additional response.
“I thought about how often we promise to pray for others and how easy it is to forget to actually do it. I saw an opportunity to teach my students about the importance of keeping those promises,” she said. “So I sent Bill another email letting him know that my students and I would pray for Cheryle during the month of November.”
The next day, she told her 7th-grade students what had happened. The students wrote and illustrated original prayers—one for each day in November—asking God to grant Cheryle, Bill, and the entire Cochran family peace and comfort. They scanned the prayers and emailed them to Bill, and a very special friendship was born.
Every day, the class read the prayer written for that date. Every few days, they emailed Bill a short note or received one from him. In one of those notes, Bill asked for their prayers for an upcoming medical procedure. On the day of the procedure, at the time it was scheduled to begin, the students sent Bill a video of themselves praying St. Teresa of Calcutta’s “Flying Novena” to the Blessed Mother.
Another day, the students asked if they could include Cheryle in a special class project celebrating loved ones who have passed away.
“It was such a loving, thoughtful gesture,” said Pantano. “But to include Cheryle, we needed a picture of her, and I didn’t know how to ask Bill for one.” All night she tried to figure out how to make that request. But as it turned out, she did not have to. The very next day, she opened her email to find a message from Bill’s son. Attached was a picture of Cheryle. No one could deny that God had had a hand in bringing Bill and the students together.
In December, the students finally got to meet Bill when he and his son, Kevin, joined them for Mass and visited with them afterward. The next day, they carefully set up the nativity set that Bill gifted them for their classroom. Over the next few weeks, they wrote gratitude journal entries about their meeting. For Valentine’s Day, they sent Bill a picture of themselves holding their hands in the shape of hearts. In March, they decided to make praying for Bill each day part of their Lenten promise. During the school’s annual Heart Run in April, some of the students chose to honor Bill and Cheryle because they were inspired by the couple’s love.
“I am grateful to Bill and his family for sharing their journey from loss to Easter glory,” said Lynne Pantano. “The students have learned more about compassion, community, and joy in Christ’s resurrection than I ever could have taught them.”
Here is what the experience meant to the students, in their own words:
“Our connection with Mr. Cochran was special because it showed us that a person’s kindness can really make a difference. . . .I’m glad God brought us to each other.”
—Skye Briggs
“This was cool because now I know that Cheryle is closer to heaven because of our praying.”
—Kendal Chumentowski
“Now, Cheryle has moved on in peace. Her family can rest knowing she was loved and respected by people outside their family.”
—Nicholas Cislo
“God worked with us in this situation by having someone contact Bill to make him feel loved by people he did not know.”
—Mia Daley
“I feel like getting to meet and befriend Bill was a plan of God.”
—Mary Erhardt
“One small invitation turned into a new bond.”
—Jane Handa
“When meeting Bill for the first time, he was so kind to everyone and you could feel the presence of someone special in the room. . . .Knowing God is watching over Cheryle on her journey to heaven is remarkable and comforting. Both of them will always have our prayers and be loved by all of us.”
—Luke Krolikowski
“I knew that prayer is powerful, but this was a whole new level.”
—Lance Laster
“It was one of the greatest things that I have done for someone else.”
—Logan Lebsack
“We prayed every day, and that made me feel like we were part of his family. . . .I feel like God had something to do with us meeting Bill. ”
—Emily Lynch