Friends

It was a mild, sunny day today, which is surprising because it started at -23 at 7am.  It felt almost springlike this afternoon, when we reached 4C.  It’s supposed to get up to almost 10 tomorrow, which is freakish for mid-late February, but to restore winter, it’s due to be -19 on Saturday.  Guess who will not be leaving the house that day (apart from the fact that she’ll be connected to an IV for 8 hours)!  Jerry has been on my lap for the last hour and a bit, patting my chin with his little paw and moving my hand to ensure that his tummy is fully massaged.  He was quite comfortable until he decided that Don looked lonely on the sofa and moved.  Don was having a challenging morning, and thinks that his pain meds are making him queasy.  He’s feeling a bit better now, but is still slow.  Gotta say that age and infirmity are not a good combination!  We got a call to say that he’s been declined for support services, and the only explanation is “you didn’t meet the threshold” which makes zero sense to me.  I clearly need to do some pushing.

My sleep was still interrupted last night, but a bit less than before.  It’s not pain related, nor anything else that I can understand.  I just wake up and it takes a moment to get back to sleep.  I haven’t slept in the afternoon, either, so I’m just going to assume that I don’t need as much sleep right now.  I had a really good breakfast this morning, and later I had some leftover pasta.  Still not a lot, but at least I got some food in.  I’ll make something soon because I know I need to eat more.  

Today was Fr. Leo’s funeral.  I watched the livestream, which started around 6:30am  Told you that I wasn’t sleeping well.  The officiant welcomed “all the many people from Trinidad who are joining us this early morning for them.” Judging from the book of condolences, there were hundreds of viewers.  It was obvious that Fr. Leo was deeply loved by many.  One of his fellow Dominicans wrote a brief obituary on him, which was largely used in the eulogy read by his nephew.  I listened to them talk about his golf (and his 3 holes-in-one), his love of classical music, his laugh — I loved hearing his laugh — and his temper.  I only ever saw him lose his temper once, but even then he didn’t lash out or hurt anyone.  My mother always said that they shared a lot of milestones — he was exactly 2 weeks older than her, they shared the same years for anniversaries (his ordination, her wedding, high school graduation) and it was a long standing joke.  For myself, he definitely made me a kinder, more considerate person and — I’ve said this before — since I’ve known him, if I ever considered doing something that I couldn’t tell him, I wouldn’t do it.  I enjoyed my visits to him in Ireland, where I’d stay with the priests in the priory and explored both Dublin and parts of the countryside with him.  When Leo visited Ottawa — almost 20 years ago now — Don met him and said he’d never known a Catholic priest who was so down to earth, and he was happy to show off Ottawa and take him for dinner.

Thank you to my friends who have called to check on me, as they know how close we were.  It’s so loving of you to do this.  It was good to see the Mass today and see how many people loved Leo.  I know where his grave will be, and it’s in a beautiful location, under a 400-year old oak tree.  I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to Tallaght, but if I do, I’ll go see his resting spot.  Meanwhile, tonight I’m lighting a candle in his memory, and remembering him.  Good night.