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March 04, 2007
Remembering a Friend
I wish I could call Fr. M today to wish him a happy 84th birthday. It is stunning to think that it has been almost five months since he died. I miss my teacher, my mentor, my friend. Today, he should be telling me, in his corny yet adorable way, that he’s “been ‘marching forth’ on ‘March 4th’ for 84 years.”
I have missed him a lot in recent weeks. On more than one occasion, I have reached for the phone, wanting to pick his brain about something.
I have never met anyone quite like him, and I doubt that I ever will. This man, who had seen his fair share of pain – he was the prison chaplain at Alcatraz at one point – had such an upbeat, infectious outlook on life. You couldn’t help but feel wonderful about yourself and just life in general when you shared his company. He truly viewed the world with awe and wonder.
Despite the chaotic events that humans have introduced to this planet – from the wars in the Middle East to the indiscriminate killings that plague the poorer parts of the nation’s capital – I still have hope for the world largely because of human beings like Fr. M.
His death last October was hardly sudden. He had been hanging on by a thread for almost two years. So, it’s not like the news of his passing came as a shock to my system. Mentally, I had prepared for it, knowing that our final conversation would, in fact, be our final conversation. But that doesn’t keep me from missing him.
He wanted to go. He was ready to die. Unfortunately, selfishly, I wasn’t ready for him to leave.
I’m still not.
Happy Birthday, Fr. M. You are missed.
