MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas very fast approaches. It's time yet again for all the reminiscing & partying to begin in only a few days. Mary Anne & her family will be coming in on Friday. Fran will be here then too. Uncle Frankie went away to visit her for a while recently. Conveniently my father has been out of the hospital for a while & he's even allowed to drive now too. I sometimes have to take him to the hospital for check~ups. Over the course of the past week, ever since Friday, I've gotten three nightmarishly blinding headaches. As far as I know they may have been becaus of sinus trouble. The first one was on the day of St. Monica's Christmas party. I went to the party but I was miserable. The party was supposed to be in Fr. Leonard's honor but he wasn't available. Winter officially began yesterday. We have no snow but there's been a lot of rain. Ruthie complained about how odd that is. I went back to Frank's garage a while ago to find out about whether he can help me with my odometer in time for the inspection I have to get by next month. He took down all the information he needs. I got my annual Christmas card from Carole but so far I haven't gotten one from Grace, Daren's mother, yet. They're the only cards I get each year. I made sure I sent one to each of them. I also sent one to Lisa from my class in high school. She's been very ill. Unfortunately Burt Koza just sent out a Facebook notice recently telling us all that O.L.P.H. in Lindenhurst, after ninety~nine years, will also be closing down the school at the end of the school year.

THANKSGIVING AND ADVENT

Thanksgiving worked out reasonably well. Mary Anne & family couldn't come in but the relatives from West Wyoming were here. Fran got here for a little while. The food, as always, was entirely too fattening. The only disadvantage was that at the end of the night I went to bed with a very bad headache. I took an Excedrin migraine pill, though, & it soon went away. A lot of relatives called to say hello. Gary called. He & I spent quite a long time on the phone. The Ronald & Linda even showed up from Washington State to visit Hilldale. They showed up for a couple of hours a few nights ago. Recently I went to a Lay Carmelite meeting in Wilkes_Barre & a men's group meeting at St. Monica's. Those meetings really keep me busy. Recently I saw Alfred Hitchcock's "The Wrong Man" & the famous Humphrey Bogart movie, "The Maltese Falcon". Now that my father's home from the hospital he has to go to the V.A. hospital in Wilkes_Barre frequently. He can't drive for now so I have to drive him there. I also have to do the grocery shopping. That's a major advantage because I always use my Price Chopper card to make sure I get credit for gas for my car. This past Sunday the Church started using the new translation for the Mass. It's a little hard to handle at first because of such an old habit but it should be very easy after a while. It's the same translation as the one they used when I was a kid. I went to a meeting a while ago at St. Monica's where a visiting monsignor explained all about it for us. Advent has begun. Christmas will soon be upon us. Unfortunately today marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Beatle George.

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

September 16 was my birthday & the 25 was my father's. All went well. As always Uncle Frankie & kin came over from West Wyoming. They stayed for a few hours & we all had a really nice time. The only trouble was that Mary Anne & her family couldn't come in because they were all too sick. I got a surprise on my birthday from my old friend Jim. He said he was in Baghdad with the Air Force. Fr. McKernan's birthday was the 17 so he & I went to breakfast the morning of mine at the Colonial Pancake House on Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming. It was a really nice time. The week after that Walter & his wife, after 8:30 Mass at St. Joseph's, invited me to go to breakfast with them at the Avenue diner on Wyoming Avenue in West Wyoming. While we were there I noticed a lot of other people were there from St. Monica's too. Unfortunately Fr. McKernan got into a very bad accident on Rte. 309 in Wilkes_Barre last Thursday. His car was totalled & he was slightly hurt when an old woman ran a stop sign & hit him. Unfortunately because of the recent flood there have been all sorts of troubles around here. I went to the St. Therese novena for five of the nine days over this past week. Her feast day was this past Saturday. It was insanely hard to get home though because the northbound lane of River Road is closed down. It was severly damaged in the flood. One day I made the very definite mistake of trying to go home by way of the detour. It didn't work out well. I was afraid that Rose wouldn't be available to cut my hair because West Pittston was especially badly hit. I asked Michelle about her though & she told me to go to her Facebook site. When I sent her a message there she said that nothing bad had happened to her. I can make an appointment to go to her barber shop now. Today is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. We wish a happy day to all Franciscans.

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.

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".

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE AGAIN...O~U~T SPELLS OUT

Yesterday cousin Larry's daughter Jennifer gave birth to a baby boy. He's now the tenth Joseph among our relatives. I got a haircut at Rose Chairge's new barber shop in West Pittston yesterday too. It's right inside her husband's comic book store. It was a little hard for me to track it down but I got there eventually with no trouble. Aunt Lauren came over last night for a while when I was at confession at O.L. Sorrows. A few weeks ago Tom sold me a St. Monica's sweatshirt. I picked it up last night. I've been re~reading Cervantes' "Don Quijote", the classic picaresque novel. It's long & the small print gets me crazy but it's always been quite a favorite of mine. My nephew Michael just graduated from Hofstra University this past weekend so he's been quite excited lately. It's still insanely cold but I can handle it as long as the snow doesn't get any worse. Last week, from Monday until Wednesday, there was no priest at our church so I went to Mass each day at St. John the Evangelist in Pittston. This year is very fast coming to its end. We should most certainly hope that 2011 will bring us much better times.

TWO DOLLARS

Uncle Frankie's home from Fran's house. Aunt Lauren is visiting Noreen. Advent yet again beckons. As of today we have only three weeks until Christmas. Besides the slight snowfall on Thanksgiving we got some more last night & this morning. The weather's been very bitter cold but not unbearable. Tomorrow I shall have to lector at 11:00 a.m. Mass at O.L. Sorrows/St. Monica's. I need a haircut. I should suppose I could track down Rose Chairge's new place over on Luzerne Avenue in West Pittston but so far I haven't bothered. There are several other places that are much closer. A few days ago when I went to a neighborhood stationery to get the Citizen's Voice, they guy in the store gave me two two dollar bills for change from a five. Two dollar bills have been around since I was a kid in the eleventh grade & I don't usually get to see them in circulation. Unfortunately four days from now will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the murder of Beatle John Lennon in Manhattan by Mark David Chapman. It still seems as if it were only last night. So far I have yet to see an entire episode of the show "House". I've seen half of each of a few episodes though. It's not so bad so maybe I shall continue watching it. Vinnie & Michael like "Burn Notice". I like it too but it's not on until 10:00 at night. Perhaps I shall watch the reruns. They're on much earlier at a time when civilized human beings can see them.

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.

BIG PARADE

Uncle Frankie & Fran came over for dinner two weekends ago. Mary Anne, Steve & Bridget came in last weekend. Michael & Sam stayed home because they were too busy. This past weekend was fairly quiet. Uncle Frankie was visiting Fran. I checked his mailbox on Saturday but he didn't get anything. Now that I get channel 72 again, I've been watching a lot of old movies. That channel has all the really interesting classics including even the very old silent movies. Veteran's Day passed by a few days ago without any significant milestones. There were no really noticeable festivities around here. The weather lately has been unseasonably warm although the mornings can be cold & icy. Yesterday was the Feast of All Carmelite Saints. Today is the Feast of All Carmelite Souls. This weekend was St. Joseph's & Our Lady of Sorrows' parishes' last weekend in existence. As of next Sunday our new parish's name will be St. Monica's. I lectored at O.L. Sorrows' last Mass yesterday. I covered for Linnae. Fr. McKernan was gone for a couple of weeks to India recently. There were visiting priests while he was gone. I gave a double red cell donation last Monday at O.L. Mt. Carmel in West Pittston. Unfortunately I got a very bad headache on Tuesday & another one on Thursday. When I used to work at Citicorp in Farmingdale & Melville, around twenty years ago, Carole, who was then my supervisor, always complained that every time I gave blood I got a violent headache the next day. Unfortunately it still happens. Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble in Wilkes_Barre. It was one of my usual trips over there. When I went to Price Chopper at the Midway, to get the papers & a loaf of French bread, there were a bunch of fire trucks & police cars there to help the local high school celebrate their having one the biggest game of the year. They led a big procession up Wyoming Avenue. Thanksgiving is now only ten days away. Recently I got my dues notice from Wayne at the Luzerne council of the Knights of Columbus. It's that time of year again.

ST. MONICA'S FEAST DAY

The Borough of Wyoming is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding this year. There are all sorts of things going on this weekend in honor of this momentous milestone. The weather, ever since our recent rainstorms, has been cooling down a bit. Our mornings are always very foggy lately. Fran & Uncle Frankie came over for supper last Sunday in honor of her new house. She's been very busy with it. Today we wish Jo~Anne a very happy birthday. She & I were really good friends as kids in Queens, on 92 Street. We were in the same class at St. Gabriel's. Because yesterday was the Feast of St. Monica, & she will soon be the patroness of our new parish, the priests over at O.L. Sorrows & St. Joseph's held a vigil on Thursday evening with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & evening prayer at St. Joseph's. After that there was a really nice party & all the regulars showed up. I've been reading a lot lately. I've been reading a lot of poetry by Robert Frost & Carl Sandburg. I've also read Thomas Merton's "The Other Side Of the Mountain". My hay fever's been getting me crazy lately. A few days ago I went to the CVS in the Midway on Wyoming Avenue to get something for it. I ended up getting CVS's version of Claritin. I only take one pill each day. It's been working out fairly well so far.

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.