ST. GABRIEL'S

Father's Day, last weekend, went quite well.  As always my parents & I partied with Uncle Frankie & kin from West Wyoming.  Fran came up for the weekend & invited us over to his house for a nice big supper on Saturday & breakfast on Sunday morning.   Recently my mother sent away to QVC for yet another cell phone so she & my father could have one available for when they go out.  Because they really don't need a video camera or anything like that, I got theirs & they now have mine.  I especially like the one I have because it takes very nice pictures & the video camera is quite an interesting perk.  Recently all my St. Gabriel's friends & I got some extremely bad news.  Our beloved school over in East Elmhurst, Queens, recently re~named the La Salle School at St. Gabriel's Parish, will be soon closing down.   Our last reunion will be this coming Saturday, June 25.  I really wish I could have attended but due to circumstances beyond my control there's no way I could possibly get there.  That parish was always the single biggest, most important landmark of my childhood.  A lot of my old St. Gabriel's friends have been joining Facebook lately.  Last Saturday's Carmelite meeting went well.  Sister Mary Robert was there.  We needed her help with the installation of officers.  We meet every third Saturday morning of the month at the Little Flower Manor in Wilkes~Barre at 9:00 a.m. & are always looking for new members.  The weather's been exceptionally nice & warm lately.  It rains quite a lot but we need the rain.  There was an exceptionally violent rainstorm starting at around 4:00 a.m. this morning.   My parents always want me to water their really nice flowers, that they got from Aunt Lauren's farm, but on days like this no extra water will be necessary.  I've been reading a lot lately, especially poetry & Carmelite books.  Two days ago was my cousin Larry's birthday so we all have to say happy birthday to him.   June 18 was also Beatle Sir Paul's birthday.   It's good to see he's still around. 

BUSY TIME

The weather's been usually pretty hot & frequently rainy around here lately. It's a busy time of year. Sam will be graduating from high school this month. Michael is really keeping active with his girlfriend Erin. Michael & Sam both have jobs that keep them occupied. Father's Day is this Sunday so we shall be going out to a restaurant as always when Fran comes in. I've been keeping in touch & getting back in touch with people from St. Gabriel's lately. We're all so very sad to have to face up to the fact that our beloved school, over in East Elmhurst, N.Y. will have to close this month. Unfortunately I most probably won't be able to go to the big reunion. The more time I spend in northeastern Pa. the more I see that nobody here has to be fit to drive his way out of a brown paper bag, in order to get a license. I've been reading, & watching a lot of movies lately, as always. I've always been interested in things like that. Recently we just got some very bad news over at St. Monica's. I noticed in the Citizen's Voice yesterday that Laura, who was until recently a parishioner & lector of ours, has died, at only forty years old, of cancer. This coming Saturday morning, I shall be going to our monthly Carmelite meeting. We have a meeting every third Saturday morning of the month at 9:00 a.m. at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street in Wilkes_Barre. New members are always welcome. Fr. McKernan isn't going to have Mass or Bible meetings on Thursday nights for the summer but we go to his men's meeting on Saturday mornings twice a month now. The Easter Season ended this past weekend on Pentecost Sunday so I've started my new breviary.

CARMELITE MEETING

A couple of weeks ago the Catholic radio people tracked me down again. This time it was to get me to help with addressing envelopes for them. There were fewer than twenty to write out. I delivered two directly to the people who were supposed to get them. The recent Carmelite meeting worked out well too. As always our attendance was nothing to brag about but it ran rather smoothly. We meet every third Saturday morning of the month at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street in Wilkes_Barre. We are always trying to find new members. Lately I only get very mild headaches every once in a while. Now that I no longer seem to have an allergy to caffeine, a change of weather always seems to get me crazy. Three days ago was my brother~in~law Steve's birthday. Yesterday was cousin Gino's. Bridget's is this coming Friday. Fran & Uncle Frankie came over for a visit last Saturday night. It was really nice. She only gets to show up once in a while. Mother's Day & my parents' fifty~fifth wedding anniversary~Cinco de Mayo~both went off without any trouble too. To celebrate we went out to Perkins to get a nice meal & to St. John the Evangelist's graveyard to visit all the deceased kin. Yesterday I went to a local jewelry store on Wyoming Avenue in West Wyoming to get the batteries replaced for my watch & my father's remote control for his car. There seems to be yet no end to the torrential downpour lately. I heard someone say on the radio a little over a week ago that this year had seen, so far, the fifth wettest spring in history.

CELL PHONE

Recently I broke down & got a cell phone. Because of my mother's obsessive~compulsive thing about the home shopping channel I got it that way. It's a little Samsung Tracfone. The deranged thing about it all is that I've never been able to stand the telephone in general. On top of that I have an absolutely insatiable hatred of the way people are always rambling on in public, interrupting others & making complete horse's butts out of themselves on these kinds of phones. I've been enjoying it immensely though. I've developed quite an insanely obsessive~compulsive need to put people's numbers into it, & to do all sorts of other things, all except for using it to call anyone. Predictably I use a few seconds of the Beatle classic "She Loves You" as my dial tone. Lately there's been entirely too much snow & bitter cold weather in general so no one would notice that spring has officially sprung. A couple of weeks ago there was a violent blizzard. We all hope it will be the very last of this year. My cousin Larry's family has been very busy with his new grandson & cousin Maelene & family are anxiously awaiting the birth of her new granddaughter. The last Carmelite meeting, two weekends ago, went quite well. We meet on the third Saturday morning of each month at 9:00 at the Little Flower Manor in Wilkes_Barre. Uncle Frankie is gone away to visit Fran for a few days so predictably I've ended up having to get his mail for him each day while he's gone. Lent progresses so far without any major trouble. Easter is very late this year. Finally & at long last the bridge on Eighth Street, after its having been under construction for such an annoyingly long time, will be officially opening to traffic at 4:00 this afternoon. The old one, right next to it, is soon to be torn down. It's like the end of an era around here.

IT'S ONE OF LARRY'S FAVORITE DAYS OF THE YEAR

Larry's cold is as good as over by now although he's been going absolutely crazy with a persistent cough that just won't go away. He doesn't have any of his medicine left but he can still go to the drug store for a refill. The weather has been getting nicer lately now that February is gone. All the raging blizzards & thunderstorms appear to be behind us. Uncle Frankie comes over lately every once in a while. Larry has a seemingly compulsive habit of always locking the door when he comes inside & Uncle Frankie isn't the least bit fond of this so he always whines about it. He has a key anyway though so Larry doesn't care. Cousins Mark's & Gary's birthdays were at the end of last month. Larry wished each of them a happy day. Beatle George would have been sixty eight years old at the end of last month. Larry enjoyed listening to all his good music. One of the big upcoming events in Larry's world is the reunion, this June, at St. Gabriel's. He'd very much like to be able to go. It turns out that Mary Anne's friend Steve, from Lindenhurst, is now married to an alumna of their old school. Larry really enjoys keeping in touch with people from those days. There's a Carmelite day of recollection coming up, in Middletown, N.Y., next month. Larry really wants to go. Last Friday at O.L. Sorrows, St. Monica's held a Night at the Races. Larry really wanted to go. He even made sure he got a ticket. Oddly, though, he plum forgot exactly which night it was supposed to be held. He assumed it was supposed to be on Saturday or Sunday & missed it. Larry's tenth grade theology teacher just sent him a Facebook message explaining that he's on the far left wing. Of the two teacher's of his on his friend list they're both extreme liberals. The reason Larry has written today's entire blog in the third person is because today is National Talk in the Third Person Day. On days like this Larry is reminded of Elaine's boyfriend Jimmy on a certain episode of "Seinfeld".

WEATHER CHANGE

The bitter cold weather, at least for now, is over. I find it rather hard to believe that I went out without a coat today. The snow's melting. St. Gabriel's in East Elmhurst is planning a big reunion in June. Jo Anne said she may go. Tim, From California, will even go too. I just found out that Mary Anne's old friend, Steve from Copiague, is married to a woman who went to school there. I'm still reading quite voraciously lately. I try always to finish one book & then virtually immediately pick up another one. I've also been trying very conscientiously to practice my guitar each day. Uncle Frankie is supposed to visit Fran for a couple of days this weekend. I shall have to pick up his mail again. Fr. McKernan won't be available for a few days at St. Monica's so I shall have to go to St. John's in Pittston for a few weekdays. Recently I added a second teacher of mine to my Facebook friend list. Jerry Di Noto was my theology teacher in the tenth grade. I tracked him down a few days ago. Tomorrow I shall have to go to another lay Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. It's at 9:00 a.m. at the Little Flower on South Meade Street. We meet on the third Saturday morning of each month. There will be another day of recollection in Middletown, N.Y. this spring. I'm hoping to be able to show up. Mary Anne's family has been doing quite well. Michael just got a really nice new job & we're all happy for him.

BUSY TIME

The night before New Year's Eve I got a very violent attack of the flu. I was at O.L. Sorrows lectoring at 7:00 p.m. Mass when my voice started getting hoarse & I started getting very weak. I spent the next few days in bed with a violent headache & cough, besides all sorts of other aches & pains. Eventually I made an appointment to see Dr. Radzwilka in West Pittston. He prescribed a couple of kinds of medication before I made the appointment. The syrup gave me violent headaches so I gave up on it. When I went to the appointment I got him to do some blood work too. So far I have gotten no results. When I started feeling better I made sure I called Chris Calore, in Wilkes_Barre to see about getting onto a bus for the trip to Washington, D.C. next Monday for the annual pro_life March. He was forced to put me on a waiting list but he eventually called & said I get to go. I went last year & all worked out quite well for me even though it was too strenuous. Nothing gets me so crazy as haveing to be restricted like that all day long. I have to get my car inspected in January each year. This Saturday I noticed at the last minute that I desperately needed an oil change. I went to De Leo's gas station on Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming because it's the closest to me. He also does inspections so I made an appointment, for yesterday, to get my inspection. It was a long boring day for me but ultimately I got my usual expensive repairs done & I'm now set until next March. He says I now get a two~month grace period. This past Saturday was our monthly lay Carmelite meeting on S. Meade Street in Wilkes_Barre. Barbara & Rosemary were the only regulars who couldn't show up. Sr. Mary Robert spent the morning with us though & she was very helpful. The weather lately has been very violently cold with entirely too much snow & ice. There have been so many birthdays this month. We wish a very happy birthday to my mother, several cousins & , among the non~relatives, Tim, Lisa & Laura.

THANKSGIVING BECKONS

Uncle Frankie's back, as of two days ago, from his trip to Fran's house. I picked up his mail each day when he was gone. Thanksgiving is only five days away. Everyone has been making preparations. Mary Anne & family will be showing up in a few days. In the 1980's I spent several Thanksgivings in North Tonawanda with relatives. It's too bad we can't have those days back now. This morning I went to Wilkes_Barre for our monthly Carmelite meeting. We meet at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade St. every third Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. Only a few people showed up this month. The weather's been very nice lately with occasional very violent thunderstorms including one in the middle of the night this past week. To my chagrin I always get very violent headaches when the weather changes like that. After tomorrow's 11:00 a.m. Mass the two churches in the Wyomings will officially be known as St. Monica's Parish. There will be a reception at St. Joseph's immediately following the Mass. It must be a stressful time for people who grew up with these parishes. Yesterday I called Jim, in California, on his cell phone. We often get to talk on Facebook anyway but he gave me his number so we could at least give it the more personal touch for once. This month we wish very happy birthdays to Steve in California, cousin Maelene's son Scott, & cousin Leonard's granddaughter Sarah(today), Wendy, two Javas & Kim.

A VERY SAD WEEK

In September my Aunt Mary died in New Jersey. She was a distant relative. On October 4, Richard died. It was the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Although he wasn't a real uncle, we'd always called him Uncle Richard. He was Uncle Joe's brother & had always been around. I showed up at the wake in Exeter & funeral in Plains. I was supposed to be a pall bearer in case they needed me. They had enough though. I was supposed to drive in the procession but I ended up going with Gino & Michelle. On October 6, Uncle Larry died. It was the Feast of St. Bruno the Carthusian. He was married to Aunt Norma. After Richard's wake & funeral Gino, Michelle & I went out to Long Island for Uncle Larry's wake. Unfortunately we took a bit of a detour through Manhattan. I ended up staying with Mary Anne & her family overnight. She, Michael & I went to Roosevelt Field Mall so he could get his first suit for a job interview. I got a chance to see all the New Yorker relatives & other connections at the wake. My mother spent a few days in the hospital so my parents weren't available. Today's the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, a favorite Carmelite patron of mine. Among other things, I've been reading David Limbaugh's "Crimes Against Liberty". It's quite an anti_Obama philippic. Beatle John's seventieth birthday was on October 9. Tomorrow I shall have to go to a Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. They're at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street every third Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m.

BIRTHDAYS

Today's the infamous Friday the 13. There have been a lot of birthdays lately. Mary Anne's birthday was three days ago. Uncle Frankie's was yesterday. He, my parents & I went to the Pittston Diner by the Pittston Bypass to get something to eat. Today is my cousin Maelene's(Mary Ellen) birthday. She lives around Buffalo. July 21 would have been Daren's birthday. She died in 2005. Her mother, Grace, sent me a card. Yesterday was also cousin Java & Nunziata's thirty seventh wedding anniversary. The annual bazaar for St. John the Evangelist Church in Pittston started yesterday & will last until Saturday. They never let it go until Sunday. I didn't go yesterday because it was such a rainy day & those things have all their main attractions outside. I shall hope to go later today. It starts at 5:30 each day. Pittston's world_renowned annual Tomato Festival begins very soon. It goes from Thursday, August 19th to Sunday, August 22th this year. Be there or be square. Lately I've been reading a lot, including Carmelite books & classic poetry. I've also been listening to my usual bottomless pit of old music, ranging mostly from the 1960's to the early 1980's.

FAMILY FEASTS

Saturday morning's lay Carmelite meeting went well. We meet at the Little Flower Manor on South Meade Street every third Saturday of the month, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Anne & Mary Elizabeth were there for a while but they had to leave early. Barbara couldn't show up because she got very sick from all the bitter cold air conditioning at the meeting in Middletown. They really overdid it that day. Last Sunday I won twenty dollars on the money wheel at O.L. Mt. Carmel's family feast. This Saturday I won a basket of shampoo, soap & bath products. I lectored at 10:30 Mass yesterday. Amazingly my cousin Maelene's son, Joey, turned thirty on July 16. They live in North Tonawanda. I can still remember when he was first born. At times like this I feel like such an old geezer. Uncle Frankie & Fran came over for a while yesterday. She had to leave early but he stayed for supper. It rains every once in a while lately, including this morning but it's not enough. I've never been able to help getting a kick out of the really nice green border around the otherwise parched grass on people's lawns these days.

JANE AUSTEN

It's been raining all day today at least since this morning. Lately we've gotten frequent small rainstorms but not as much rain as we really need. People's lawns have been dying with brown grass all over the place except for the few people who have zoysia grass. Unfortunately Aunt Lauren's sister-in-law Joyce died last week. Although none of us knew her my mother & Uncle Frankie went to the wake yesterday. My father wasn't available because of a doctor's appointment. Today is Maria's birthday. She's cousin Gary's wife. We wish her a very happy birthday. Lately I've been reading a couple of Carmelite books. I just finished, yesterday, "The Institution of the First Monks" & started re_reading "To Quell the Terror". I've also re_read most of Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice". Unfortunately I shall have to get some exercise eventually. My extra weight has yet to go away. Long_time N.Y. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner died early yesterday morning of a massive heart failure. I've never liked sports but this really caught my attention.

BLOOD DRIVE

Yesterday Barbara called to see if I really intended to attend Saturday's Carmelite day of recollection in Middletown, N.Y. Later last evening Rosemary called to confirm our driving plans. Rosemary & I shall have to meet at the Little Flower Manor in Wilkes_Barre at around 6:00 a.m. From there we shall join Barbara in Scranton. We just went to Middletown very recently. Judy & Yvonne will be at the meeting & they also have to come visit us next month. They show up once a year. On Tuesday I started re_reading Jane Austen's "Sense & Sensibility". Since I've already read it quite a few times, & seen the movie with Emma Thompson & Kate Winslet a few times, it gets a lot easier to figure out each successive time. The heat wave continues although today, so far, seems a bit cooler than yesterday. My car still doesn't have air conditioning although I tried a while ago to get it fixed. Some things are simply entirely hopeless. Yesterday I gave blood in Plains. My appointment for a double red cell donation was for 4:00. I got there around 3:00. Unlike the last time I went to the Waterfront Banquet Facility for a blood drive, it was exceptionally crowded. Yesterday hardly anyone showed up so I got finished slightly before 4:00. My New York K of C council gave each donor a full meal. Here we just get water, juice & muffins or cookies or something. They also gave out a free coupon, as usual, for three pints of Friendly's ice cream. One of the volunteers said she recognized me because she lives on Tenth Street & goes to St. Cecelia's. Fr. Leo McKernan is now the pastor at St. Joseph's & O.L. Sorrows. He showed up for 8:00 Mass at St. Joseph's this morning. He's our fourth in the past two years.

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.

ST. TERESA OF AVILA

The weather is getting progressively colder each day. I even heard someone say over at St. John's this morning that it's supposed to start snowing sometime later today. It's Msgr. Bendick's sixty_eighth birthday over there too. Eddy & KrissyKrissyKrissy, around an hour south of here, say that it's already started to snow over there, & that it's sticking to the ground. Today is the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, the famous fifteenth century Spanish Carmelite mystic. She & St. John of the Cross co_founded the Discalced Carmelites. This Saturday morning I shall have to go to Wilkes_Barre for another Carmelite meeting. It's on South Meade Street at 9:00 a.m. every third Saturday of the month. A new woman joined us last month. I hope she shows up again. To my chagrin I'm still pigging out lately on entirely too much Halloween candy.

Nightmarishly Foggy Morning

Thursday, December 14, 2006: This morning was nightmarishly foggy. So far the rest of the day hasn't been anything to brag about either. It's an extremely significant Carmelite feast day, though_St. John of the Cross_so I made quite sure I got over to O.L. Mt. Carmel Church in Pittston for 7 a.m. Mass. I'm just about finished with Villette. Life has been going on so far, so well. Christmas beckons. One of these days I shall have to give you a nice big itemized check list about all the no_nos of Christmas.