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| Vincent, Caitlyn and Kyle |
Kyle Fischler, a volunteer [with
Caitlyn DeCastro and Vincent Fiedler-Ross] beginning at Christmas time in 2008,
completed his Masters Degree in Social Work at Loyola Chicago this year and
returned home...to Colorado. And the
rains came. He is staying with his
Mother and assures us he is on high ground.
A selection from his e-mail is included at the end of this blog.
This year, Lauren is settling
into her new school, with new responsibilities for some demanding 4th Graders! Erika and Travis are working at
Lantern Light; despite the renovations to the kitchen area they are serving as
many as 187 lunches on some days; plus a morning snack if there is extra food,
and tending to the needs of the guests and the staff. Charles works on mailings.
Bob’s work with St. Joe’s Parish
on Tulane Avenue includes helping out with parking for Saints home games—the rental
of parking spaces is the major fundraiser for the parish. He gets home once the lot is full and can
watch the games. The Saints have won their
first three games—the last time this happened they went to the Super Bowl. Just saying . . .
On Thursday evening, the
Mission/Development Committee of the House of Charity met here, John is on that
committee.
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| John, Lauren and Travis |
Saturday began with a tropical
downpour that threatened to wash out a fundraiser for Parkinson’s; it was called
“For One Day, Parkinson’s Is A Walk In The Park’ [Audubon Park.] Lauren and Travis braved the rain and drove
over with John [“I’m only going ‘cause I have it!] who figured he could always
hang out in the Pavilion with the food while the younger folk walked. However, the rain let up and all could
walk. Jessica McKeown [Americorps] and
Emily Stebert [an Americorps alum] , were good enough to come and join in and
walk. The uncertain weather meant there
were a lot of folks who preregistered and sent in their donations but did not
walk—those who came were in great good spirits.
John made a contact for a program, ‘LSVT Big’, that he is hoping to get
into which helps people with neurologically based movement disorders.
Erika did an overnight trip to
the New York Metropolitan area; the rest watched the Saints on Sunday and were
treated to turkey clubs, and organic, gluten free bean dip—a feast authored by
Travis with a little help from his friends.
A raft of chocolate cupcakes was a perfect follow-up. John Petrullo started the tradition of Sunday
night community dinner and thanks to the volunteers we are remaining loyal to
the tradition—hey, it involves food! And
one learns so much as the conversation flows freely around the table. New worlds open—like a great swamp filled
with strange beasts—or shoes, in this case.
CROCS: More than you ever wanted to know. . .
Dinner
conversation on Sunday night at one point centered around ‘crocs’, a form of
footwear recommended by the Sisters at Lantern Light for both comfort and
protection while working in the kitchen.
It appeared that Erika’s fashion consultant, [see Lauren] felt that, despite safety, support and good sense,
‘the look’ was not acceptable. Who
knew? [Br. Bob: “Pass the bean dip.”]
Monday morning, one was treated
to a view of ‘crocs cap toe’ in black, evidently a more fashionable alternative
with good support. These revelations
enrich one's appreciation for the complexity of the world of women’s fashion
which for most has been foreign territory all these years.
FROM KYLE FISCHLER
Hi Brother John!
Sorry for my delay. I've been working on, what else?, construction projects
at my mom's house, which has been keeping me busy. Thank you for the
concern. Most of the flooding hit the inner mountain towns that were in the
valleys, like Estes Park (my family's vacation spot). Boulder got hit
pretty hard but the Denver area and Wheat Ridge were largely spared. There
were some road closures but nothing serious. Also, unfortunately, the
prairie towns lining the rivers got hit too when flooding crested and
covered the fields. First forest fires, now flooding and mudslides. Unusual
because Colorado growing up was always "immune" to disasters...though I
supposed everywhere has something. Both my brother's house and my mom's
house are fine, thank God. I feel horrible for all those folks in the
mountains and the farmers who lost their cattle, crops, and houses.
Luckily, Colorado has a great response time for stuff like this and people
are out in full force helping each other out, which is lovely to see. It
reminds me of the book "A Paradise Built in Hell" which is about how people
tend to be their best during disasters and actually get along more than
usual to work as a team...that it is engrained in us to help in a crisis.
Anyway, things are drying out here pretty well. On the bright side, it's
been about as green as I've ever seen it due to all the rain.
Sorry for my delay. I've been working on, what else?, construction projects
at my mom's house, which has been keeping me busy. Thank you for the
concern. Most of the flooding hit the inner mountain towns that were in the
valleys, like Estes Park (my family's vacation spot). Boulder got hit
pretty hard but the Denver area and Wheat Ridge were largely spared. There
were some road closures but nothing serious. Also, unfortunately, the
prairie towns lining the rivers got hit too when flooding crested and
covered the fields. First forest fires, now flooding and mudslides. Unusual
because Colorado growing up was always "immune" to disasters...though I
supposed everywhere has something. Both my brother's house and my mom's
house are fine, thank God. I feel horrible for all those folks in the
mountains and the farmers who lost their cattle, crops, and houses.
Luckily, Colorado has a great response time for stuff like this and people
are out in full force helping each other out, which is lovely to see. It
reminds me of the book "A Paradise Built in Hell" which is about how people
tend to be their best during disasters and actually get along more than
usual to work as a team...that it is engrained in us to help in a crisis.
Anyway, things are drying out here pretty well. On the bright side, it's
been about as green as I've ever seen it due to all the rain.
BLOG 09.23.13
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