I didn’t get home last night till almost 1am, so here is yesterday’s message.
I worked at my desk, trying to catch up on voice and e mail and left around 9am for Baltimore. I stopped in to see Sister Natalie (Ann Christine), my kindergarten and 1st grade teacher. She lives at Villa Julie, with about 25 other Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She is the sacristan and works in the office on Medicare information. She is 83 and is still the “little ball of fire” she was when she taught me. We have been friends since 1949, when we met at St. Martin’s. She prayed me (and others) through the seminary and has been my “rock” over the years. Two weeks ago, she and another sister were taking the dog to his cage for the night and a cat ran by. The dog ran after the cat, pulling the one nun by the leash and falling into Sister Natalie, who fell into the wall and cracked her elbow and shattered it. She is wrapped up like a mummy and can’t really use her right arm. It’s funny to hear her tell it; but she is “most annoyed” at the cat and at her being forced to have people cut her food, which she can “still feed myself” with the left hand. It was great to see her and Sister Bernadette Glodeck (another SND friend of mine) who is one of the “drivers to the doctors”.
Then I drove up to Shrewsbury, Pa to pick up Betty Neary. She has moved – about three blocks – and she gave me a great tour of her new digs. It is about three times the size of the apartment she has lived in for the last 8 years. It is actually the first floor of a house and she is very happy about the move. We went to lunch and then drove back to Silver Spring and stopped by Joan Beall’s house for a visit. (I took a nap).
Then we came to Blessed Sacrament. I had the 5:30pm Mass. It was the feast of the Holy Innocents and I preached about those 27 people who were killed in bombs in Nigeria on Christmas as they were going to Mass. It seems that people are still dying because the Messiah has come!
Then, with the addition of one of the parishioners, who was at Mass and whom I invited to join us, we headed out for the Kennedy Center. Carolyn is a very active member of the liturgy group. She was born in Missouri but has lived her for about 50 years. She works at a law firm and we have just hit it off well.
Just before Mass, I got a phone message that Kate Berry was not well and wouldn’t be able to join us at the Center; so I invited Carolyn to sub. At first she demurred but I wouldn’t take No for an answer. So, she, Joan, Betty, and I headed to the Center. We met Rick and Peg Jensen, my cousins from Virginia and Bill and Pat Berry, who had driven in from West Virginia. We saw a one woman show about Anne Richards, the governor of Texas. Holland Taylor, who wrote it was the star and she was just fabulous. She plays the mother in Two and a Half Men on TV but has many other credits in her career. This will be one for which she is long remembered.
After the show, Rick and Peg invited us to their home for refreshments. Their daughter, Kate and their son, Christopher and his friend, Halley were there as well. We had a very nice time and good food!! (Again, we missed Kate Berry!!!). Finally around 11:15, we decided that the Berrys needed to head out to West Virginia and we needed to head home. I took all the ladies home and, as I said, fell into bed around 1am. So now I am up to date.
You took Betty N to Shrewsberry at 11:15 pm?!?!?! What will her new neighbors say!