I checked previous blogs and it
seems much of December and January flash by every year before a new blog
appears. Here we go for 2015!
The Advent Season, as a time of waiting,
was much in our hearts and prayer as we spent it this year without
volunteers. There was an emptiness that
accompanied us. As Christmas approached,
we put up some decorations in the kitchen where we gather for meals, and the
outdoor lights.
We did not put up a tree [no one
even talked about it] or decorate the dining or living rooms since the
volunteers did that, with their friends, in years past. It served as a reminder to us to redouble our
efforts to connect with other groups to let people know of the program.
During the Christmas season,
either by telephone calls or cards, we heard from Caitlyn and Vincent, and had
a newsy card [a rarity] from Kyle Fischler, now a homeowner in the Denver
area. Kyle finished an MSW in Social
Work and is working at the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at National Jewish Health and
St. Joseph’s Hospital there.
Catherine Drennan and Nick Roland
keep in touch. Ryan Danaher wed Erin
Hodgson of Quincy, Illinois on May 2nd. While the wedding took place in Seattle the
parties crossed state lines so they could also celebrate in the Midwest. According to Erin, Ryan’s 30th was
celebrated listening to a group from New Orleans visiting the Pacific
Northwest.
John Petrullo has kept in touch
and is back from his teaching stint in Spain, and planning to come down and see
what might be found in NOLA.
Erika Enlund writes of a return
to the New York area that was quite demanding.
She is pursuing an advanced degree at Parsons School of Design and
wondered if she was really up to the demands.
Her 3.8 grade point average seems to indicate that her nervousness
[shared with concerned Brothers and Sisters in NOLA] motivated her
performance. Her devoted feline
companion, Chichi, passed on after 19 years, and Erika moved to a new
place. Sounds tiring.
For Christmas among the Brothers,
John left on December 18 for province business, joining his family in New
Jersey on the 23rd and returning to NOLA on January 2nd. Bob left for Minnesota on the 21st
and returned on the 30th.
[Get him to tell you about accidentally getting off at the first stop on
a flight that he was to stay on till the next stop!] Charles traveled via Atlanta to Jacksonville
on Christmas Eve to visit a niece, returning on the 1st. During our time away the cat, Karen, was fed
by our neighbors, Glenn and Randy, who took in our mail, too.
Our highlight in January has been
the visit from Iona College students.
The dozen or so from Iona were joined by three Religious of the Sacred
Heart who housed them at Duchesne House [and spoke highly of the group.] The students talked about Erika and Lauren
and their influence; they would not have known TJ Wain as well. It was a lovely evening.
We also had Sr. Nancy Hale, CHF
and Sr. Pauline O’Reilly, CHF for dinner on the 22nd—we had Bob’s
‘sliders’ after a lovely salad, followed by pound cake with strawberries
marinated in crème de cassis.
No Brother ever starved.
BLOG 01.23.15
