A Very Odd Thing

Tuesday

Tuesday morning began with the funeral of a friend; a wonderful man who would have turned sixty-three today.  It was a very aggressive form of liver cancer that took him;diagnosed in September, he was given two to three months to live-he got five.

He was a gentle, kind unassuming man who held a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, worked many years for NASA, and received numerous awards for his efforts, yet you would never know that from knowing him.  He was generous to a fault, always there to lend a hand, offer support, or,with his sparkling dry wit, offer comic relief when necessary.

Several years after his first wife died, he married another friend of mine in 2004, and they had just celebrated their second anniversary.  It was her first marriage, and she truly waited for the love of her life.  His grown children readily welcomed her into the family and took comfort in knowing that their father was well loved and cared for through the end. That's a great comfort when distance separates families.  It's also a great testament to love.

He was a man of great faith, as is his wife, and his funeral was one of the most joy-filled and faith-filled celebrations I have ever witnessed.  I know that sounds odd when speaking of death, but there was such an air of hopefulness, a feeling of peace, and an abundance of love that was shared by all.  There were three priests, two deacons and one bishop on the altar during Mass, and all of them his friends. 

There must have been over 200 people in attendance, and I would not have wanted to be in a car waiting at one of the intersections for the funeral procession to pass.  There must have been at least fifty cars in the line-perhaps more, and I'm sure that many people waiting were scratching their heads and wondering who died.

I can tell them.

A friend.

Rest in peace, Larry

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It's A Miracle

I spent the first part of Super Bowl Sunday at the Cleveland Home and Garden Show - which, incidentally, I found out is the largest show of it’s kind in the country – walking up and down the aisles listening to pitchmen (yes, and “pitchwomen” which sounds about as stupid as “pitchperson” for those among you who are PC) expounding the glories of their wares.  And they were pitching everything from live plants to revolutionary concepts in flooring to New Age magnetic clasp jewelry with curative and restorative powers.

But what I noticed the most about these items and the people behind the counters was that a lot of them promised to deliver one thing – a miracle!   

Now I’m from an old-school Catholic background, and I tend to associate miracles with God, the saints, heavenly music and glorious bursts of sunlight rather than sponge mops and sub-flooring.  But according to today’s ad-men (women, people – I’m really tired of all that crap) miracles are rather common and mundane things.

Now, to be fair, only one or two of the items I saw had the word “miracle” in their name, but that didn’t stop the sales reps from pulling it out a time or two while describing their products.  “Works like a miracle”…”It’s a miracle how it does that”…”New miracle ingredient”…”Miracle of modern technology”…well, you get the picture.

There are miracle creams for dry hands, miracle compounds for basement floors that make you feel like you’re walking on a cloud and not cold hard concrete, miracle jewelry cleaner – even safe for pearls (guys, go ask a girl about this, she’ll know what it means), miracle pet stain remover, miracle mulch – yes, mulch – that doesn’t fade from prolonged exposure to the sun, miracle glue - several of those, in fact – and miracle mops that get even crayon marks off the floor with water alone, and so on and so forth.

Now, I don’t worry about crayon marks on my floor the way I used to, but the mop intrigued me, as did the miracle dusting cloth and free replacement mop head that came with purchase, and purchase I did.

Now the only miracle will be if I ever use it. I won’t have to report back to let you know if it works though, for if you ever hear heavenly music and see a glorious burst of light, you’ll know.