The woman in whose memory this window was commissioned enjoyed the seashore and shells. That imagery aligns with her gifts as a creative, motherly woman, for water is associated with the feminine creative principle. The sea evokes infinity, the source of life and its goal, the "mother" of whom we … are born and to whom we return in death.

Sea and shore are portrayed by wave lines and outlines of shells as well as by color and texture. A conch (filling most of the upper lite) is spiral-shaped and thus associated with the soul's circling until it returns to God. A nautilus (superimposed over the conch and set off on its right side by streaky opalescent glass) has a counter-clockwise spiral representing the creative breath of the Spirit. A scallop shell (lower lite, accented by opalescent glass) is a Christian symbol for baptism and pilgrimage.

In Scripture, the prophet Ezekiel (47:1-12) describes his vision of spring of water flowing from the temple with such abundance that it becomes a river, even as God's blessings flow copiously. The strongest inspiration for the window is Christ's promise that "(N)o one who drinks the water that I shall give . . . will ever be thirsty again: the water that I shall give . . . will become . . . a spring of water, welling up for eternal life" (Jn 4:13-14).

The window is made of German mouth-blown glass, which glows with color during the day, and Pennsylvania hand-poured opalescent glass, which reflects light at night. Together they obscure a drab brick wall.

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