Pat is right about Jerry. He came home today insisted that I go to this website and listen to a bit performed on a radio program to which he has become enamoured. Future Marc is the name of the bit. I listened to it and found it funny too. He has talked about it several times. It is on our AM dial in the 910 frequency. According to their website they have 53 stations nationwide.
Margaret needs a blog. She sends some cute emails that would make good fodder for blogging. Here is the one I received today, entitled Offertory Prayer:
A visiting minister during the offertory prayer: "Dear Lord," he began with arms extended and a rapturous look on his upturned face, "without you we are but dust..." He would have continued, but at that moment, one very obedient little girl (who was listening carefully for a change!) leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mommy, WHAT is butt dust?" Church was pretty much over at that point...
I remember that day very well; beginning as I walked out of noon Mass. I was informed by a fellow AMI student that I was wanted in the principal’s office. I immediately thought; “Uh oh, what have I done now?” When I entered the office and saw Kathleen, Tim and I think Margaret, along with Fr. O’Toole, I figured that this visit to the office was not about me. Fr. O’Toole started with words like, “This is the part of a priest’s duties that are unpleasant.” Right away I knew the news was not good. I thought, did something happen to Theresa? Is mother okay? Never in my wildest thoughts did I believe that my strong, capable father had a heart attack. However, those words came out of Fr. O’Toole’s mouth. “You’re father has had a heart attack.” Okay, I thought, so my dad is not as strong as I thought he was, but he could get better. Then I looked at Fr. O’Toole and realized he had not yet delivered the entire message. He was hem-hawing around and it was then that I asked, “how is my dad?’ and it was then that he delivered the rest of the message. “Your father is dead.” We cried. After a while, we made our way over to the rectory. That is where mom and grandpa waited for us. Jack Randal, daddy’s regular Bridge partner went to the high school to pick up Matthew. Leah was in the Navy and came home. Patrick was at Rice. He borrowed a car (I think it was a Gremlin, or some similar model) and sped home to Wichita Falls.
I always think of daddy during the month of April. This year will be 40 years since his death. He still lives in my memory and I take comfort in that. The other day as I was driving to work, after having spent the weekend in Austin, I was thinking about Magda and how much I love being her grandmother. It is such a joyful condition. Then I thought about my dad, and experienced sorrow because he never knew that joy. I know that he would have found a special joy in each and everyone of his grandchildren. He would have loved being a grandfather. More importantly, I believe that his grandchildren would have loved him dearly.
So, what are your memories of that day?
I am a very frustrated shopper of two of the main drug store chains in my area. CVS and Walgreens. I am kinda like my dad. He use to travel all over Wichita Falls on Thurdays finding the lowest priced items on his grocery list. This week CVS featured 12pack Coke products in their ad. So, I stopped by yesterday and was very frustrated when I went to the soft drink aisle and they had no diet coke. Luckily, Jennifer let me take a 20 ounce diet coke from her house, so I had some stash at home. That was last night. Tonight, I decided to try again. Again, I was disappointed when I reached the soft drink aisle and there was no diet coke in sight. I spoke with the manager who told me he was having problems with his delivery person and would not have any dc til Thursday. I pointed out to him that it was quite ridiculous that a featured item of his current sale brochure was out of stock. He replied that he was sorry...silently, I agreed with him. So, as I left the store I grabbed a copy of the current ad and went to Walgreens. Walgreens is a block further from my house, but I thought if they honor this ad, I will stop going to CVS and Walgreens will get all my business. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in Walgreens reponse to my querry. My pantry is devoid of Diet Coke. I guess I will start buying all my drugstore needs at my local grocery store.
I went to work today. My new job offers me the opportunity to work Sundays. I like Sundays for two reasons; 1. The traffic as a non-issue; 2. I get paid a differential of 1.5 times my regular pay and because I am working until 7, I additionally get 10% extra pay. I like the new job, but I long for the old job. I did not realize how much until today. I chose a pair of capri pants to wear that I had not worn since last summer. I pulled them on and since they had pockets, it is my habit to stuff my hands in them so I can arrange them properly before zipping up. When I did this, I pulled out a wad of 12-cord ends. 12-cord is a product that we used on my old crew. It is waxed string, that is suppose to be 12 strands thick, but I believe we actually used string that was 8 strands. It is used to harness the cabling used to power or feed the various equipment that we installed when I was on COEI. When I pulled it out of my pocket, it reminded me how much I miss my old job. In truth, I do miss the job alot, but I miss working with the COEI crew. They are a wonderful bunch of people. J, Jeff, Van, Debbie, Tina, Rudy, Len, Pam, Greg, Richard,Frances, Bobby, and Doug---Here's to you!
I actually still work with two of the guys, Marvin and Al. Since I get to see them every week, I do not miss them.
Everyone should call Kathleen on her cell phone and wish her Happy Birthday today. I hope you have a very lovely day.