MIDDLETOWN CARMELITES

We have to wish Aunt Lauren a happy birthday. Yesterday was her big day. The lay Carmelites' Marian day of recollection went really well on Saturday. My father drove me over to Anne's house before 7:00 a.m. She, her daughter Mary Elizabeth & I left for Middletown after a few minutes. we were there by around 8:30 in spite of Uncle Frankie's having absolutely insisted it was at least a two_hour drive. We went on Rtes. 81 & 84. Rte 380 was up there too. Port Jervis is on the way. The weather was really nice. That was only my second time I've ever been to the shrine. I went there once in 1995, around the time Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. I went when Fr. Mike Kissane was vocation director, to see if I should become one of their friars. That's when I first met Fr. Mario Esposito & Fr. Brocard Connors. Fr. Brocard died a few years ago. Fr. Mario was in charge of the day of recollection. Yvonne De Thomas & Judy Knidds showed up from Pa. Theresa, & Jim & Rosemary Lancelotti were there from Middletown. Dianne Massiello was the only one I recognized from the Long Island people. The food was really good & it was very crowded. It's an especially nice place with lots of nice scenery.

MIDDLETOWN TRIP

My big trip to Middletown, N.Y. is coming up. It's for the Carmelites' annual Marian day of recollection. I called Barbara & Ann yesterday to make sure I got all the arrangements right. To my undying chagrin Barbara is entirely too fond of the phone. She talks for an entirely unnecessarily long time. I'm supposed to meet Ann at her house in Pittston at around 6:45 a.m. on Saturday. We have to arrive at Middletown by 8:30. I went there once in 1995, when Fr. Mike Kissane was their vocation director, to see if I should become a friar. I still take the paper over to Uncle Frankie's house each day during the week. Fran is frequently home on weekends so I don't often have to be bothered then. My parents' anniversary party on Saturday went well until the end of the night when my mother got a bit ill. She was feeling very poorly on Sunday too. Mary Anne went back home, on the Martz bus, on Sunday morning. Fran took her to the bus station. Sam's induction into the National Honor Society was last week. Even though spring has been here for quite a long time already, we still have very cold days. It's very easy to get sick & tired of the bad weather.

BEATLE ANNIVERSARY

To my chagrin, I was forced to miss this past weekend's big reunion over at St. Gabriel's. It was for Sr. Bernadette's & Sr. Catherine's milestone anniversaries & St. Gabriel's seventieth anniversary. Jo Anne & her mother went. Jo Anne said that of all the people from our class only Mike & Margreen were there. I can't even remember Margreen. Of all the kids in our old crowd I can only remember a few dozen well. Today would have been Aunt Mary Theresa's birthday. Tomorrow Uncle Frankie, Fran, my mother & I shall be going to 8:00 a.m. Mass for her at St. John the Evangelist Church in Pittston. After Mass my father will be joining us for breakfast. Every morning for the past to weeks I have getting the Citizen's Voice for Uncle Frankie & taking it over to his house right after 8:00 Mass. This past Sunday I called Kelly Stuart to find out about the details for the Marian day of recollection for the Carmelites in Middletown, N.Y. in May. It will be on the third Saturday of the month so it will have to replace our usual meeting. Last weekend's meeting worked out well. The new people stayed after the meeting for their formation classes. This month marks the fortieth anniversary of the Beatles. Pope Benedict XVI recently released a statement commending their brilliant talent & forgiving them for all their checkered past. Of course Beatle Ringo's not all that impressed.