JANUARY 2015: LATE AGAIN

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 2^nd.  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 30^th 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 23^rd and returning to NOLA on January 2^nd.  Bob left for Minnesota on the 21^st and returned on the 30^th.  [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 1^st.  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 22^nd—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