Well hello again.
Christmas was super with Fr. Miseal and I leading a Christmas Eve service at the Navy base, then at 10PM we particpated in an hour of carols before midnight Mass from 11-12ish at St. John's. The next day we were up and out to get to Cargill Creek by 9 for our 3rd service, followed by a communion call to Anna.
Fr. Miseal and Mike were talking about language and Mike told him the word 'wicked' is used by Bostonians as an adverb or adjective meaning 'very good'. When Mike commented in the car that he had been to Church six times in 72 hours Fr. M said, "Mike is having a wicked-holy vacation", cracked me up!
Yesterday we took the van to the airport to have it filled with diesel fuel. The only diesel on this part of Andros is sold by Johnnie, out of the back of his van. He has fuel drums and a garden hose and sucks the hose to siphon the fuel into our tank. Mike had heard about this and came along. Using his phone is taped the whole event and should be posting that once he gets home - if he does I'll try to copy it into the blog for you all to see. Johnnie really is an entepreneur from the word go and this little side line helps him out, and us, so we are glad he offers it.
Per the title of this blog entry you know that Ginni has left with Mike to head back home for a bit of nursing. Our inability to sell our home leaves us with a mortgage, insurance, and taxes that our rental income falls short of covering when you add our need to buy healthcare insurance in a foriegn country. The plan is for Gin to return home to work one week a month. She plans on flying back every other month and work the last week of one month and the first week of another. We will see how this goes, hopefully hospice will have work for her on a per dium status otherwise she'll try to pick up hours with the VNA doing non-hospice related nursing for home bound patients. SO - at 7AM Fr. M and I dropped her and Mike at the airport and we both stood on the tarmack waving our hankerchiefs in the air as the plane taxied down the runway and then took off. Must have been a sight from inside the plane.
Tonight, Fr. M and I will lead services at the Navy base, then tomorrow the regular routine at St.Johns and Christ the King. At 4PM he has a flight to Nassau and then Monday on to Boston. Being Columbian he does not miss the weather in New England and seems to have enjoyed his time with us. He's said that if we ever need to get home, and he is out of school, he'd welcome the chance to come back so I guess he liked it. It's clear to me he is a great homilist, despite his difficulties with English as his 2nd language. Last week we told everyone he'd be here all week long and that this week we'd arrive early for confessions. So far 3 people have dropped by or asked to meet with him, we'll see how many take advantage of his presence this weekend.
One side note before signing off. You all know my wife has a heart as big as all outdoors. Our alcoholic friend Herbie has discovered this as well and has been stopping by daily for a free sandwich. A recent development has caused me to take him aside for a 'chat' and he hasn't dropped by since. Ginni was on the way out the door and Herbie stopped her and asked if she would help him carry some things to the top of the hill, where he's living in an abandoned bus, using our church van. She said OK, and he said he'd meet her at the end of our driveway. When she met him he was carrying two cases of beer (Guinness no less). Well she dropped him off but when I heard about it I kinda lost it. Now we're not only feeding him because he has no money - but when he gets money, and buys beer with it, we are helping him get it home. Soooo - when he stopped by around time for our Christmas dinner he and I had a talk and he now understands we are not his beer truck (among other things). It will be interesting to see how this relationship evolves after this encounter.
Enough for now, keep us in your prayers
FT
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Eve Eve
Well its the day before the day before Christmas and our son Mike has been with us for 4 days and is grooving on the Bahamas. The wind had died down and we took him to a few beaches which kind of blew him away - something about 3 miles of white sand with not another person anywhere in sight. Suffice it to say he is 'on vacation' and loving it.
I'll give him credit for attending 3 Masses on his first weekend with us and meeting all the locals. He even came in with us when we did a visit to Anna, a homebound 94 year-old blind woman we bring communion to. White sandy beaches, and desperate poverty all on the same day.
We took him to the local restaurant, 'Hank's Place' and he hand cracked conche while taking in the Bahamian decore of Hank's (everything from old Bahamian license plates to shark jaws and 5' wide turtle shells cover the walls of this local place. We know the waitresses and they were very friendly, but one we did not know came over and it turns out she wants to get her daughter into CCD. The conversation included a bit about her daughter, but also some of her family situation, so Mike's dinner conversation wasn't exactly what he expected. With that said he went with the flow and was just as friendly as Mike can be (if you know Mike you know that's a good thing).
One development we hadn't expected was that the priest who will be with us for Christmas arrived early - for this weekend before Christmas and he will be with us through Christmas and for the following weekend. This means our little mission of Ginni and I has suddenly doubled to 4 people.
Fr. Miseal is from Columbia, studying at Boston College, and over the Christmas break joined another Jesuit to come help cover the family islands for Christmas. He's been great and he and Mike have become fast friends - he has offered to take Mike to a Columbian restaurant when they return home, and Mike has offered to take him to his favorite Sushi bar in Brookline, just a few miles from BC.
What complicated his arrival was exams at BC so he flew to Nassau on Saturday, then to Andros Sunday morning - arriving 15 minutes before Mass began. To make things simpler I preached and when we were done with the 2nd service in Cargill Creek and had made the communion call he finally got to open his suitcase around 2 that afternoon, then joined us to watch the Patriots demolish the Cardinals in the snow (Yes, the CBS affiliate carried that Pat's game that week).
Over this past week we have taken Mike and Fr. M to 2 beaches - in each the beaches were all deserted and we had miles of white sand and aqua ocean.
Today we plan to visit the disabled boy up the street and another woman we have heard of but have never found at home when we visit. Fr. M looks forward to this type of pastoral one on one encounter with the people and the home visits have been great. He's been with us on two already and today will be two more.
As I type this Herbie has arrived. Herbie is the town alcoholic and when he comes by he usually leaves with one of Ginni's egg sandwiches. Today he brought a coconut and Mike is watching him crack it open with a machete and pour the milk into a bowl for us (Mike hates coconut milk). It's an interesting picture to say the least.
All in all I think this will be a vacation Mike will remember for awhile.
I'll give him credit for attending 3 Masses on his first weekend with us and meeting all the locals. He even came in with us when we did a visit to Anna, a homebound 94 year-old blind woman we bring communion to. White sandy beaches, and desperate poverty all on the same day.
We took him to the local restaurant, 'Hank's Place' and he hand cracked conche while taking in the Bahamian decore of Hank's (everything from old Bahamian license plates to shark jaws and 5' wide turtle shells cover the walls of this local place. We know the waitresses and they were very friendly, but one we did not know came over and it turns out she wants to get her daughter into CCD. The conversation included a bit about her daughter, but also some of her family situation, so Mike's dinner conversation wasn't exactly what he expected. With that said he went with the flow and was just as friendly as Mike can be (if you know Mike you know that's a good thing).
One development we hadn't expected was that the priest who will be with us for Christmas arrived early - for this weekend before Christmas and he will be with us through Christmas and for the following weekend. This means our little mission of Ginni and I has suddenly doubled to 4 people.
Fr. Miseal is from Columbia, studying at Boston College, and over the Christmas break joined another Jesuit to come help cover the family islands for Christmas. He's been great and he and Mike have become fast friends - he has offered to take Mike to a Columbian restaurant when they return home, and Mike has offered to take him to his favorite Sushi bar in Brookline, just a few miles from BC.
What complicated his arrival was exams at BC so he flew to Nassau on Saturday, then to Andros Sunday morning - arriving 15 minutes before Mass began. To make things simpler I preached and when we were done with the 2nd service in Cargill Creek and had made the communion call he finally got to open his suitcase around 2 that afternoon, then joined us to watch the Patriots demolish the Cardinals in the snow (Yes, the CBS affiliate carried that Pat's game that week).
Over this past week we have taken Mike and Fr. M to 2 beaches - in each the beaches were all deserted and we had miles of white sand and aqua ocean.
Today we plan to visit the disabled boy up the street and another woman we have heard of but have never found at home when we visit. Fr. M looks forward to this type of pastoral one on one encounter with the people and the home visits have been great. He's been with us on two already and today will be two more.
As I type this Herbie has arrived. Herbie is the town alcoholic and when he comes by he usually leaves with one of Ginni's egg sandwiches. Today he brought a coconut and Mike is watching him crack it open with a machete and pour the milk into a bowl for us (Mike hates coconut milk). It's an interesting picture to say the least.
All in all I think this will be a vacation Mike will remember for awhile.
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