Today is the 1st of June and I am spending the day in my suite. I am relaxing and avoiding the rain outside. I’ve had an interesting week and a half.. When last I wrote, it was May 21st and I had just returned from celebrating the 5:30pm Mass for Mary, the Mother of the Church and I was working on my presentation for Tuesdays with Fr. Maury. We were having a discussion about the Holy Father. He is an easy topic because almost daily we read about something he’s done or said. This week they should have questions about the new Cardinals and the Pope’s meetings with all the bishops of Chile. Some will have heard about it but wonder what it means. Others will have only heard about it in the news. I find it easy to explain him. I had Mass for Mrs. Catherine Bullen, the mother of Fr. John Dillon. She had been one of my Communion Calls and she died last year and I was too sick to attend the funeral. I try to remember her on her anniversary. She was a lovely lady. Then I met with someone about an annulment.
On Wednesday, May 22nd, Colleen came by to help me with the put on the humidifier I need for my machine so that my nose will not dry out and give me nose bleeds. She also helped me to at my new scooter. I haven’t gotten comfortable with it but she helps me. I then had the 11am Mass and then I came back and worked on the Christmas cards.
On Thursday, the 24th, I had the 8am Mass and worked in the office and talked to some people and then the Ladies came and we shopped a little. Early to bed.
On Friday, I slept in and then had the 11am Mass and spent the day in my suite. Another rainy day.
On Saturday, the 26th, I again had the 11am Mass and since the next Mass I’d have was the 5:30pm on Sunday, I came home and relaxed and wrote some more Christmas cards.
Sunday the 27th, I met with a lady who has to get her annulment in the diocese of Arlington. I had submitted it to our tribunal but I was mistaken. I ran off the forms for Arlington and she and I transferred the information from the DC form. I had called a priest friend of Fr. Alec, who is an Arlington priest, is going to help her to submit to their tribunal. She and I had a nice visit. In the afternoon, a lady from St. Bernard’s and her husband “picnicked in” with me while we worked on the program for the memorial Mass for her mom, which will be held here on June 16th. Then, as they were forecasting a big rainstorm, I called Carolyn and asked her to pick me up and drive me across the street for the 5:30PM Mass. She picked me up and let me off at the sacristy and after Mass, she brought me home (in the rain) to the front door of the rectory. I am blessed in my friends and parishioners.
Monday was Memorial Day and I spent the whole day in my suite and worked on Christmas cards and tried to clear my desk.
On Tuesday, the 29th, I had the 8am Mass and then Rose came and picked me up and we went and picked up Joan Beall. Rose drove us up to York, Pa to visit Betty Neary. We had a great time. She is in an assisted living place. She has congestive heart problems and needs help. She had to give up her apartment and that was hard. Her mind is alert and we talked about the shows and our friends and it was so good to be with her. Patty couldn’t go with us and so I told Rose that we should go right home and then she wouldn’t have to deal with all the traffic at the commuter time. I think you know that she has dialysis on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She just started that in May and after a few problems, she done very well and is up to our travels on other days. Again, great friends.
On Wednesday, Sr. Kass picked me up around 10am and we headed off to Pittsburgh. On the trip, I discovered that my concentrator was not working the battery was losing its charge. We stopped at a restaurant and I tried my cord and it wouldn’t work. Fortunately, I had brought with me, one of the canisters of oxygen, so I used it. That night, Keith picked us up at the hotel and I took the canister to Kerry and Ed’s house, where the Morris Clan gathered. It was a great evening because I have known them all since 1971 and baptized and married and baptized their children, some of whom are now “rising seniors” in high school. When I went to bed that night, I kept checking my Oximeter and saw that it didn’t go about 84. Then I’d take some oxygen and it would read into the 90’s. Through the night, I’d be low, take some oxygen, and then sleep a little. By 7am, I hadn’t slept much and so I went on line to see if I could get some oxygen nearby. The companies said that I needed to get a company that was partnering with my company in Maryland. I called them and they didn’t have a partner in Western Maryland. My nurse friend gave me some leads but they couldn’t help either. I called Bob Norton and said that I couldn’t come to the reunion celebrating 46 years since ordination. He was hosting a dinner for 18 at his rectory and I was sorry to miss seeing the guys. At Breakfast, I asked Kass if she was up to driving home after the long ride yesterday. She said that it was fine and so we headed home. I still had some oxygen in the canister and once I got in the car and had the air conditioning right on me, I was OK. We had to ride through some heavy rain and a big accident that slowed the traffic, but by 5:30pm, I was in my room on my big machine and breathing fine. It was hard not to see the people I thought I would visit but I learned something about this disease. I have to plan (liking taking two sets of cords and maybe two canisters) if I want to go away from the rectory – And I do and I will plan. I slept soundly on Thursday night.
Today, Friday, since I had planned to be coming home from Pittsburgh, I have stayed in my suite and worked on this Paddy and straightened out my desk. I have also worked on more Christmas cards and our IT person came and helped me with things on my computers. So I am not as “Down” as I was yesterday.
Another thing I learned was that I need to put into my computer’s calendar everything I do – especially if it was a change, like I had the last few weeks because of being ill. I forgot that a day I stayed in the rectory, a dear friend, Sharon came of visit me and we “drank in”. She also brought a tin of chocolate chip cookies. I shared them with Colleen and Monty the next day but I forgot to mention that we had a very nice visit. When things are done in the parish center, I have them listed in my appointment book but my “new” meeting people in the rectory are something I will have to learn how to record.
Well that brings you up to date. I have a family baptism tomorrow in the chapel and then 8th grade graduation is in the Church. I’ll sit in. Tomorrow is also the wedding of Amy and Trevor down at St. Michael’s, which I wasn’t able to attend. Please keep them and their families in your prayers. Know that all of you and your intentions are in my prayers.