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.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

This past Saturday morning I went to the monthly Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre. Seven people showed up. After the meeting Sr. Mary Robert opened up the gift shop for us. I promised Barbara that I shall be going back to Middletown, N.Y. again on July 10 for another day of recollection. Now I know exactly how to get there really easily. Father's Day went really well this past Sunday. My parents & I went out with Uncle Frankie & Fran. We went to a Chinese restaurant in one of the malls in Wilkes_Barre. It's one of those all-you-can-eat places & we all really overdid it. I've never really liked Chinese food but nobody ever bothers to listen to me. After we left Uncle Frankie, Fran & my mother went to Wegmann's for a while. My father & I went straight home. Mary Anne & the kids all called up to say happy Father's Day. I got a very violent headache at night after I went to bed. I lectored at 5:00 Mass on Saturday. Starting on July 7, Fr. Leo McKernan will be our new pastor. As of November we shall even have a new name for the parish. From then on it will be named St. Monica's. Yesterday was cousin Larry's birthday so I made sure I sent him a happy birthday e mail. The July 4 weekend is coming up very soon so many of my relatives will be getting ready for a big time. It's the fiftieth anniversary this year.