A LETTER OF LOVE

Sunday, July 5th marks 51 years together. Each day, even after 51 years of marriage, I still get the overwhelming feeling that I have so much love in me for this sweet woman that I may explode if I can't let it out! 

Where does it all come from?  I think that it truly must be a gift from God to be able to love someone so completely, so intensely, so passionately, and so unendingly.  Where, indeed, does it come from if not from God? (Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. - 1John 4:7-8)

Linda, 

Lord knows I don't deserve you, but you are my life, my love, my all.  I cannot imagine life without you.

I love you with all my heart!!  I have loved you since the first day I met you, and I will love you always! Happy Anniversary, sweetheart!

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING

It's been about 12 1/2 years since I last posted here.  And that was supposed to be a Part 3 post.  I don't know what happened.  I guess 12 1/2 years of writer's block.  It's a good thing I am not a writer by profession!

So much has happened since that last post.  Looking back I wish I had not stopped writing here.  But, briefly, several more trips North were made with the granddaughters.  These trips included a visit to a coal mine in Pennsylvania, Howe's Caverns in New York, Washington, D.C. (including The Spy Museum.  Super cool and interesting if you've never been!), Quebec to go whale watching, Connecticutt several times including the wedding of my sister, Joanna, and Rob.

We got a beautiful granddaughter who is sweet, and funny, and smart, and we just love her to pieces.

One of the family relationships failed, sadly, but a new one blossomed and brought with it another granddaughter, full of life and love, and a joy to know.  This relationship also produced our second grandson, just this past February, right before the Covid19 lock-down.  So we were able to see him a couple of times in the first few weeks, but nothing except pictures for the next three months.  He's cute, and handsome, and makes us all smile and laugh!  We now have two grandsons born almost 27 years apart!!

Speaking of grandsons, Ian graduated from Brother Martin High School and received a full academic scholarship to Xavier University of New Orleans, one of the premier Colleges of Pharmacy in the nation.  He is now a full-fledged pharmacist.  Great going, Dr. Spinney!

Bee (Bridget) graduated from Mount Carmel Academy (a Rag Doll) here in NOLA and received a full scholarship to Loyola University of New Orleans.  Congratulations, Bee!  She's doing very well in college, and also works for one of our local pizza restaurants, Reginelli's, to boot.

Molly has just finished eighth grade at Mount Carmel Academy (she's a Pink Panther).  Good job, Molly!  She has developed such a dry wit!  She definitely fits into the Herrick (Duncan) family! 

Linda and I have both retired from our DoD jobs, me in June of 2017 and she in November of the same year.  We're now enjoying retirement together, spending as much time as possible in each other's company.

Patti and Jerrod bought our house on the corner, and pretty much totally renovated the inside, changing it from a duplex to a single-family residence.  The new floor plan was Patti's, and it worked out beautifully.  Plus, it is a joy to have the whole family living almost right next door.

I'm going to stop here and take some time to gather my thoughts and perhaps pull out some old pictures to add to the next post.  In the meantime, I hope that I can get the word out that (L)ife On The Ledge is hopefully back in business!

Take care, and God bless!!!

NY Trip - Part 2

So, we left Harrisburg on Sunday, June 10th, right after breakfast, and we arrived at Bob and Hellen's in Johnson City, NY, just after lunch time.  After a quick job of unpacking, we all piled back into the truck ( and I'm really lovin' the truck!!!) and headed off to do the tri-cities Carousel Tour.  There are six carousels located in and around Binghamton, Johnson City, Endicott and Endwell.  The objective is to ride all six on the same day, and collect a ticket from each one.  After completing the sixth, you get a certificate and button for the accomplishment.

I think everyone had a good time, and by the end of the day we were all ready for a good night's rest.

Monday morning it was back to Pennsylvania, again.  This time to a coal mine!!

NY Trip - Part One

The trip was SO fantastic that it's taken me three months to recover!!  Or, I've just been too busy (read lazy) to stop and blog.

We gathered the girls, packed the truck, and headed out Friday, the 8th of June.  The plan was to drive about halfway, and spend the night, then drive on Saturday to Harrisburg, PA, where we would spend the night with my biker sister, Sara.

The weather was beautiful, and the girls were absolutely wonderful for the entire trip!  I have to admit a little trepidation about taking a 5 year old on such a long trip, but she and her sister were excellent travelers, as it turned out.

Molly got a bit of a geography lesson as we recited the states we had been in each time we crossed the border into another state.  I was surprised at how many state lines we crossed.  I guess I should have looked on a map before starting the trip.

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee.  We stopped for the night at a motel in Tennessee.  The girls wanted to go swimming, so Linda and the girls went to the pool area while I went in search of a quick supper.  Mickey D's, of course!!  All was well, until Linda woke me in the middle of the night and said, "Do you hear that?"  I didn't hear anything because my CPAP machine was in the middle of dying.  Once I turned it off, as she opened the door, we could hear a loud, rhythmic sound going on, and on, and on.  Turns out the fire alarm was going off.  No fire, as it turned out, just an alarm.  Guess we won't be staying there on the way back!!

Saturday night we got to Sara's, unpacked a few things, and headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  It figures that we were all starving, so as soon as we got there all the waiters and waitresses stopped what they were doing and did a line dance! I guess it's a regular thing that the TR in NOLA doesn't do.

When we went back to Sara's after dinner it became clear that Linda's cat allergies were flaring up, so a command decision was made and she and I left to spend the night at a nearby motel.

Sunday morning Sara brought the girls over to the motel and we had a delicious breakfast together before hitting the road once again.  After a pretty uneventful ride, we arrived at Bob and Helen's in NY.

More to come...

TRUCKIN' !!! - YEAH, BAY-BEE!!

In spite of all appearances to the contrary, I have not given up on this blog!!  I just can't seem to get the creative juices flowing as often as I used to.

Linda and I are heading to New York State on Friday and we're taking our granddaughters with us!  Driving!!  Yes, we might be out of our minds!!  One half of the trip will be in the Binghamton area, the other half will be on Long Island.  It will be great to see family and friends again, and an opportunity to show the girls some of the beauty that is NY.

For the Binghamton leg of the journey we plan to do the Binghamton Ride The Carousel Circuit.  And, if all goes as planned, we will also tour a coal mine and go to Niagara Falls.  A whirlwind visit, but a lot of fun packed into a few days, I think.

Then it's on to Long Island.  I had hoped to go to Sagamore Hill, the home of Theodore Roosevelt, but apparently the main house is closed to tours while under renovations.  Still, NY being what it is, there are lots of things to do.  Other possibilities are the Old Bethpage Restoration Village, the Statue of Liberty, and Jones Beach. Once again, whirlwind, but lots of fun!

We planned to drive there and back in our 2006 Ford 500.  After considering the size of the car, the luggage, and the almost 130K miles already on the car we went out tonight and bought a 2012 Ford F150 crewcab pickup truck.  It should make the trip a whole lot more enjoyable!!  We'll pick it up tomorrow (Thursday) morning, in plenty of time to pack up and hit the road on Friday!!

Hoping for a safe and happy trip.  Stay tuned, maybe after the road trip I'll actually have some interesting things to write about! Who knows?!?!

5.06.201.2*

May is shaping up to be a great month!!  On May 3rd H2FGFNW and I went to the Ultimate Marvel Marathon.  We got to the movie theater at 10:45am, and at 11:30am the marathon began with Iron Man.  for the rest of the day and evening we watched The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor 3D, Captain America 3D, and at 12:01am we started watching The Avengers 3D.  We didn't get out of the theater until 3am!!  It was awesome!

Linda and I are headed to Houston for Mothers' Day weekend and we're taking Ian with us.  It'll be really good to see H1/DIL1 again.  It's been way too long!  Looking forward to lasagna on Friday, spiedies on Saturday, and a surprise dinner for Linda on Sunday.  Then it's back to NOLA on Monday.

Hopefully our Amish Country gazebo will arrive right before the trip to Houston, so it'll be ready to be put together when we get back.  Linda has been wanting one for several years, so this should make her very happy.  Which should make ME very happy, 'cause "a happy wife means a happy life".

Looking forward to June, we have a trip North in the planning stages.  The plan is to drive to Long Island to visit family there, take the grandkids to the statue of liberty, and then go upstate to visit more family and friends before returning home.  Who knows? Maybe a trip to Niagara Falls?  It's a possibility!!  It's shaping up to be about a 10-day trip.

*So... a joke for H1 that I made up myself...  Everyday I go to work, and I drink coffee, and I pee.  And I drink more coffee, and I pee.  I do this the whole day.  Does this mean that where I work is my "I pee" address?

SHORT TERM MEMORY IS A TERRIBLE THING TO LOSE!!!

I apparently wrote this almost two months ago and forgot to post it!!

I can hardly believe that it’s still February and Mardi Gras has been over for a week already!

Speaking of, we had a wonderful visit with Bob, Helen, Cara, Nicholas and Abigail.  Although they couldn’t stay for Lundi Gras or Mardi Gras, we still packed a lot of partying into a short period.  Muses, a swamp tour, a visit to a wild animal park, shopping in the French Quarter during a deluge… and of course, “Bacchus Sunday”!!!  I was pretty amazed that we all made it all the way through to the very end of Bacchus!  And the three king cakes from Manny Randazzo’s bakery were a perfect addition to all the goings on.

Of course, when in New Orleans you must eat like New Orleanians do, so we started off the visit with takeout from Popeye’s.  Delicious!!  Over the course of the four days our guests were here we went to New Orleans Food and Spirits for lunch, Fuji Hana for a hibachi dinner, I made bacon and eggs for breakfast, and Reginelli’s pizza restaurant.  Good food, GREAT company!!

H2 had to work 12 hour shifts throughout the Carnival season, so we missed seeing him as much as we’d have liked, but he was well represented by H2FGFNW.  KenEllie braved the cold, early morning and crowds to secure us a good spot uptown to from where to watch the parades on Bacchus Sunday.  The Green Lantern made a surprise appearance!  It was a pleasant surprise to see Josefina, as well!

Happy Birthday to BB, who turned the big 11 last weekend!!  She’s growing so fast.

On a more personal side, I had the first of three rounds of shots in my knees this week.  A synthetic form of the fluid contained in a rooster comb, believe it or not, was injected into the knee to provide lubrication and cushioning back into the joints.  I hope it works well, and doesn’t have any unwanted side effects, like crowing in the early morning?!?!

Linda is getting ready to have surgery on her knee for a torn meniscus in March.  Please include her in your prayers.

UPDATE:  I had all my knee shots.  They seem to have helped, although not as much as I had hoped. Linda is recovering from her knee surgery quite well.  She's finishing up her physical therapy this week, and will be back to work soon. 

HAPPY EASTER... with a short rant!*

"Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King's triumph!" - from the Easter Proclamation

Over the past 12 years of jitters, butterflies, and nervousness I had finally become reasonably familiar with the Exsultet, and the prospect of singing it acapella was less of a nightmare. This year, however, with the new translation of the Roman Missal, came a new translation of the Exsultet, and with that, came new jitters, butterflies and, well, you get the picture.

I am, by nature, a shy person. I hate public speaking. I don't like crowds. I like to arrive early to events so as to find an inconspicuous place and to not draw attention to myself. I hate to arrive late, and frequently will skip a meeting if I'm late rather than go in after it has started. I know it's silly and childish and shows a decided lack of self-confidence but... there it is.

So how on earth did I end up a Roman Catholic deacon? At least once a month I have to stand up in front of our church parish congregation at each of three masses and preach a homily that I prepared. Every year at the Easter Vigil Mass I sing the Exsultet (which used to take 7 minutes, and now takes 9-10 minutes). Am I just a glutton for punishment, or does God have a really twisted sense of humor? I can just imagine Him, with a huge grin on His face, watching me squirm as I try to prepare for each homily, or for the Easter Vigil. It has been said that "God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called." I wish I could feel a little more qualified. (*and no, I don't want any cheese with that whine!) Oh well, as one infinitely greater than I once said, "Father, not my will, but thy will be done."

This is turning into a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend.  The Lord has blessed us with perfect weather, sunny and not too hot.  The family is gathering today for our traditional Easter ham dinner, which H2/H2FGNW are hosting at their home. It is going to be a great get together. We will miss H1/DIL1, but will have them in our thoughts and hearts throughout the day.

Please pray for my sister, who had surgery on her shoulder, for a speedy recovery.  May she soon be "in the wind" back on her motorcycle!

My own prayers go out to all my family and friends spread throughout the country and the world!  May this Easter bring you happiness, draw you closer to family and to our Lord, and give you hope and comfort in His promise of life everlasting.

May the peace of Christ be with you, now and always!  Happy Easter!

OMG! I CAN"T BELIEVE IT"S ALMOST APRIL AND...

I haven't posted since January?!?!?!

That's hard to believe!!  February just flew by way too fast, I guess.  Let's see if I can recall a little bit of what went on in February.

We had the most AWESOME visit with our very good and dear friends, Bob and Helen.  They brought their daughter, Cara, and their two grandchildren, Abby (Cara's daughter) and Nicholas.  They came during the second week of Carnival, and stayed until Lundi Gras.  The visit included a trip to the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, and the Honey Island Swamp Tour, near Slidell.  The kids and adults thoroughly enjoyed both!!

At the end of February I had "rooster comb" injections in both of my knees to replace the lubricating fluid that has apparently been lost over the years.  3 sets of 2oz. shots in each knee, one week apart.  Loads of fun.

At the same time, Linda had her leg checked because it has been causing her much discomfort for awhile now, and ended up having arthrosopic surgery for a torn meniscus in her knee.  The surgery went well, and she's home now recovering.


Linda and I are both on the "Bouari" diet.  It seems to be working, but takes a lot of dedication.  Any diet is difficult here in Southeast Louisiana because of all the wonderful fried seafood and other cuisine that is available.  This diet bans all dairy, grains, yellow vegetables.  It seems to work as advertised until I start cheating!  Then I have to regroup, refocus, and get back on the diet wagon again!  I have a LONG way to go! Wish me luck.

I think we're going to get a gazebo for the back yard.  Linda has been wanting one for a couple of years now, and this year she seems really set on getting one, so maybe I'll have some gazebo assembly antics to write about in the near future... stay tuned!!

 Last weekend we went to City Park for our granddaughter Bridget's birthday party.  Her birthday fell right in the middle of Carnival this year, so the party was postponed until after.  It was a mustache themed party, all girls, and it was actually a lot of fun for them!

ANOTHER DECEMBER TO REMEMBER - Part Deux*

*Sorry it's so late.

As has become the family tradition, Christmas dinner was hosted by Major Dad and DLG.  MD is an amazing cook, and the menu for the day was equally amazing!  In addition to a ham and prime rib, Linda and I added turkey with dressing and gravy.  The table was so heavily laden with food that there was barely room for plates and silverware!  I think everyone had a wonderful time!  It was especially nice that Fr. Deo and Seminarian Mark were able to join us for the dinner.  All in all, Christmas was awesome!

Just two days after Christmas we got to celebrate once again! This time it was H2FGFNW's (hereafter referred to as DIL3) birthday.  Having already done the cupcake routine twice this month, we opted to go back to the Chantilly Berry Cake from Whole Foods.  As always, a delicious hit!

Mid-week MD/DLG and family went to H-town to visit H1/DIL1 for New Years, as is their annual custom.  Rumor has it that much fun was had and copious amounts of fireworks were set off!  Since Notre Dame Seminary was shut down for the holidays we invited Mark to spend a few days with us, which he did.  For New Year's Eve, Linda and I, Mark, H2 and DIL3 strolled up to the levee to watch the New Orleans fireworks.  Although overcast, the fireworks show was still quite a display!  We all had a great time, and welcomed the New Year with no hangovers (mostly).

As with much of the rest of the country we are having a very mild winter, with temperatures running in the upper seventies, then dropping down to near 30, then back to the 70s again.  Great cold/flu weather!!  Wishing everyone the happiest and most prosperous New Year!!!

ANOTHER DECEMBER TO REMEMBER - Part One

Decembers are always a busy time of year for most everyone.  I sometimes think that we take it to a whole new level!!

December started off with a Linda's birthday present, a trip to the Covington Christmas Extravaganza (craft fair) on Friday, December 2.  It's an annual event for us made special this year because not only did H2FGFNW go, but H2 came along, as well!!  It was a beautiful, cool, sunny day and everyone had a good time.


The day after the craft fair Linda and I went to Drago's for her birthday dinner.  It was, as usual, pretty awesome!  We had charbroiled oysters as an appetizer, then jumbo lobsters for dinner.  And to top it off, we were able to park right next to the front door, and were seated immediately, both of which are a rare occurrence on a Saturday night at the Metairie location!!  The only slight glitch was the darkness in the dining room.  Linda ended up forgetting her jacket, so we had to pass by on Monday to pick it up.  That Sunday we tried a little different approach to the traditional birthday cake, an assortment of cupcakes from the Cupcake Factory.  Yummm!!!

H1's birthday was the following weekend.  We spent that weekend wishing he and DIL1 were back in New Orleans.  :-(

The third weekend marked my birthday which we celebrated with dinner at O'Brien's Grill on the Westbank.  It is an "a la carte" style steak restaurant that was an amazing dining experience, made more so by Angelle, who booked our reservation for us, then worked that evening as our server.  She was great! The food was great!  The evening was great!  Once again we did the cupcakes with the rest of the family as the birthday cake.

Thursday before Christmas we finally put up our tree.  Feeling like a change, this year it was an all angels tree, decorated entirely with angel ornaments.  It came out pretty well, I think.  I had no idea we had so many angel ornaments!!

More to come!!!

A PRE-CHRISTMAS EVE FUNNY

Son (to Dad): What is love?

Dad: Don't hurt me.

Son: Don't hurt me?

Dad: No more.

GIVING THANKS

It is the morning after the day which was Thanksgiving, 2011.  I am still awash in the warm and happy memories of the day previous.  It was a long day, which began at 5am (actually it began at 3pm on Wednesday when I started baking the potatoes for "twice baked") with Linda preparing the stuffing that would go into the turkey.  At 6am I started on the turkey, opening the package, rinsing the bird, filling the empty cavities with stuffing and finally putting it into the oven.

After checking emails and a quick stop at FB, the rest of the morning began with a scrambled egg breakfast, then on to getting the dining room ready for dinner, with occasional stops for to watch a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Preparations included getting out new tablecloths, bringing out the card table for an extension to the dining room table, locating the folding chairs, getting down the fine china and taking out the fancy silverware.  And, OH!! Don't forget to put extra bottles of wine in to chill!

With dinner planned for "around 2-ish" we managed to get it wrapped up and on the table before 2:30!  The happiness of having almost everyone home for this particular holiday is practically indescribable!  We missed having Michael and Hannah with us, but they were in our hearts as we all (Kenny and Gisselle, Dean and Brenda, Patti and Jerrod, Ian, Bridget, and Molly, Linda and me, joined by Fr. Deo and seminarian Mark sat down to enjoy a minor feast of major proportions!

It was a day that brought to light how very many reasons we have to give thanks to God for all the blessings we have been given.  Wonderful, loving, happy and healthy family, good friends, a house that truly is a home filled with love!

Now it's time to get on with the post-Thanksgiving cleanup!!

Wishing you all God's blessings on this "Black Friday", when people begin their Christmas shopping in earnest... and I pray that we don't lose sight of what we have to be thankful for and why, that we don't lose sight of the "reason for the season" that is Jesus Christ, our Lord.  As we get ready to enter in to the Christmas season, let's try to keep Christ in Christmas!  Dominus Vosbiscum... et cum spiritu tuo! The Lord be with you, and with your spirit!

ME, AT WORK

Just keep me in the dark, and cover me in excrement...

GOLDEN OLDIE MY A**

October has been a pretty special month this year, so far.  H2/H2FGNW took a 10-day trip to Del Rio to see her family.  They invited Linda and I to come also, since it was over a three-day weekend.  We decided to extend our trip also, so we went to Del Rio for 4 days, then returned to Houston for another 4 days to visit with H1/DIL1.  Let me just say that both legs of the trip were wonderful.  The weather was great and we certainly couldn't have asked for better company.

Now that we're home again, and back to the "old grind" I'm already looking forward to Christmas, when the whole family will be together once again.  Although I knew how good I had it before, well, you know... what with the entire family living within a 4-mile area, that point has been driven home many times over, now that we have family displace (permanently) to Houston, and some living in Kenner which, while in the "greater New Orleans area", is still a 20-30 minute drive on a good day.

I have to ask, do the political candidate debates frustrate you as much as they do me?  I don't watch them, and I don't like to hear about them during news broadcasts.  It just seems totally ludicrous to me that we are supposed to take seriously a group of people who get up on stage and hurl darts at one another for months on end, sometimes with great acrimony, only to turn around once a candidate has been selected and tell us how great that person is, and what a wonderful choice he/she is and how we should definitely vote for that person.  REALLY?!?!

Let me take a moment to ask for prayers for my extended family.  They are going through a crisis situation and the outcome is unclear at the moment.  Please pray for a satisfactory solution for all concerned, and know that you have my prayers and thanks in advance!

OH EM GEE, am I getting old!!!  As I write this I'm listening to the "Solid Gold Oldies" channel on cable.  Almost all the songs are from my junior high/high school years!  And I always thought oldies were what my mom and dad listened to!  Now, where DID I put that cane,again?  

Let me close by wishing Major Dad a Happy Birthday later this month, and a happy All Hallow's Eve to everyone!!  God's blessings be with you.

YOU TAKE THE HIGH ROAD, I'LL TAKE THE LOW ROAD

It was pretty much a great weekend!  The Holy Name of Mary Parish fair was held, with perfect weather and record attendance!  LSU and the Saints won their games!  Linda made AWESOME tapioca pudding Sunday, which we had for dessert after the burgers, nachos and fries from the fair.

We were scheduled to attend a pre-retirement seminar on Thursday, just to weigh our options.  Neither of us plans to retire for another couple of years.  When it was announced that the funeral for Archbishop Philip Hannan would be held on Thursday afternoon, we decided to try and slip out early from the seminar to attend the funeral.  Then we found out that I was requested for a funeral on Thursday morning, for a friend who passed away, so now we are NOT going to the pre-retirement seminar after all.  It will be a busy Thursday!

Then comes FRIDAY!!  Road Trip!!

The plans are to depart NOLA at the crack of dawn, driving straight through to Del Rio, TX.  After visiting for a few days we will head back home, stopping in Houston for several more days to visit H1/DIL1.  Looking forward to getting toasted!!!

EBBS AND FLOWS

We are home from our retreat. It was the third annual combined retreat, with deacons and wives from both New Orleans and Houma-Thibodeau.  It was great to reconnect with many brother deacons and their wives.

This year's presenter was Deacon Dr. Peter Gittens, from Toronto, Canada.  A university professor of theology and philosophy, he led us on a spiritual reflection of Mary, Mother of God, perpetual virgin, who was assumed body and soul into heaven. 

OK. So I started this post over a week ago and am just now getting back to it.

First, to continue with the retreat.  It was more of a mini conference than a retreat for me, because there wasn't much silence and reflection going on in between the talks.  Admittedly this was my own fault.  It was just too easy to wander into the cafeteria area for a cup of coffee and sit down and chat with other retreatants until time for the next scheduled event.  Since more than half of the couples were from the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, it was an opportunity to meet or get reaquainted with them, so the time wasn't exactly wasted.  Still, I don't think I came away as refreshed as I would have if I had tried a little harder to spend time in quiet reflection.  Put that on my to-do list for next year!!

The following Tuesday I was on call for JPSO and got a callout to respond to a request for a chaplain at the family of a suicide victim.  It was a young man (late 30's, I think) who left behind a wife and two children, ages 13 and 7.  The suicide had taken place in another location, thankfully, but it didn't make the visit any easier.  Seeing the grief, the self-recrimination, watching as people felt their lives collapsing in on themselves, it is just heartbreaking.  It is so hard to try to offer some little bit of comfort without being pushy, or preachy, or feeling like a complete interloper into their pain.  To compound the situation, the mother of the victim had already lost one 20 year old son, I think in an accident, and recently her husband had died of a heart attack.  She was, understandably, devastated.  The mother arrived about an hour after I did, so it was like responding to two calls at once.  Please pray for the families, especially the wife, the mother and the children. 

The mood picked up later in the week when we went to MD/DLG's house for cake and ice cream to celebrate Molly-moo's fifth birthday!! She was adorable, and absolutely the center of attention!  And, it is always nice to see BB and Ian.  An added bonus was seeing Ian the day before when he met us, in between classes, for lunch at New Orleans Food and Spirits.  Can't get enough of Ian!!  He's really grown up to be a fine young man!

This week we had a very nice time with H2/H2FGFNW and 3/Angelle at Izzo's Illegal Burrito.  That was outstanding!!  It was a burrito/nacho/taco/salad place that operated like Subway.  You told them what you wanted, then what you wanted on it, and watched them put it together.  Most definitely dee-lish!!!

Later in the week  we had Chinese with KenEllie at a new (to us) restaurant (Little Chinatown) over on Williams Blvd.  The cuisine was different, in a good way, from the places we usually go to, but still very tasty.  After dinner we went to Starbucks for coffee and casual conversation.  All in all a most enjoyable evening!!
Starting to count the days until we head back to Del Rio and Houston for visits.  We can't wait!!  Bob, Irma and BV are always wonderful to visit, and we can't ever see enough of H1/DIL1!!  It should be a very nice trip.

WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THIS SAND? AND CACTUS?

I seem to be in a desert, both spiritually and emotionally, which has been going on for some time, hence the lack of postings.  Hopefully the weekend deacon couples retreat that Linda and I are about to attend will help somewhat.

We are relieved that a recent incident involving H2, his partner, and two miscreants and a shooting ended in (thankfully) minor injuries to the partner's hand, and the arrest of the two law-unabiding citizens.

In October we head back to Del Rio/Acuña with H2/H2WFGF, with a stop in Houston to see H1/DIL1.  With any luck Linda will come home with another pair of fancy boots, a little dressier than the last pair she bought.

That's about it for now.  Hopefully the creative juices will begin to flow once again very soon.  Take care and God's blessings!!

POSTPOURRI

I am humbled.  I work with people whose faith is so much deeper and stronger and richer than my own.  While I struggle with my relationship with God, I have a friend who gets to see his guardian angel. And not only that, but the guardian angels for his whole family, and for his wife's family as well.  It's a long, but beautiful story, and I hope that someday he will share it with everyone.  Meanwhile, my poor guardian angels are working overtime, and I'm keeping them busy, for sure!! 

This past month was a stressful one.  My place of employment had to "cut back" on the project I'm assigned to, which meant that 20 people would be let go.  Although the life of a contractor is a precarious one at best, still it was hard to watch people who I've worked with for the past year, or more, and who I've come to regard as my friends, as well as coworkers, have their lives thrown into such turmoil!  A few were able to find work on other projects, but most are out in the job hunt.  What makes this doubly hard for them is that anther project had shut down only two - three months earlier, putting a large group of people with similar skills into the job market ahead of our people. It is especially painful when it is a result of misdirection, mismanagement, poor planning and government bureaucracy that is at the root of the problem.

Several of my deacon brothers have gone on to their eternal reward in the past several weeks.  Please pray with me that our Lord greets them with, "Welcome, good and faithful servant."  They were all good and holy men.  They will be missed.  Pray also for their families in their time of sorrow.

St. Maximillian Kolbe pray for us! 

REST IN PEACE, CRISTINA MARIE

It has been a rather sad week.  Tuesday morning, as I was the on-call chaplain for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, I got a call just as I arrived at work, asking if I could accompany one of the sheriff's on a death notification call.  The sister of another deputy had been "found unconscious and unresponsive in her car" (this later turned out to be not quite an accurate statement of events) and taken to the hospital where she had died.  Meeting up with the sheriff's lieutenant, we went to the parents' house. The police officer son had only just gotten off the night shift and hadn't been contacted. Of course, the parents initially thought it had something to do with their son, but their concern quickly turned into horrible grief as the reality behind our visit began to sink in.  We tried to console, as best we could, the mother and father.  A younger brother was present, as well, who tried to be strong and in control.  This was, without a doubt, the worst thing I've had to do in my life! 

We had been with the family for about an hour when the older brother showed up.  It was at that point that I finally put two and two together (deputy's name, and the district in which he worked) and realized that I knew him, he was one of H2's best friends.  This only made the tragedy of the whole situation hit that much closer to home!

If you are reading this, please pray for the repose of the soul of the young lady, and for her family.  And may God have mercy on the "friends" whose actions contributed to her untimely death!