Maghy Dorta White Tomlinson

Maghy started her new life on May 17, 2000. This Friday was the 2nd anniversary of her death. The anniversary of her birth was earlier in the month, on May, 5, 2000. May is a month that forcefully reminds me that Maghy is surely gone. To me she was known by so many appellations: wife, lover, friend, exasperator, partner, associate, colleague, diablita, etc.. When such a person leaves you behind, you are like a broken plate. You face alone – nothing - a future where you see no pathway.

But, out of nothing, God grants you time, family, friends, knowledge, and love, most of all love. Out of nothing he made a path for me that has guided me through these pass two years, away from despair, to a new self awareness.

This Friday was a day of things happening which brought Maghy’s memory very close. I went to Mass Friday at St. Francis Assisi Church, the Cathedral of Santa Fe (Faith) New Mexico. I had the 5:15PM Mass said in her memory. She would of liked that time of day; she was never one for getting up early. The Mass was said by Fr. Robert Lussier, a Franciscan. Maghy was taught by the Franciscans at Villa Nova. Her best friend was Fr. Erbio Carribillo, one of her former teachers, whom she kept in constant touch with, regardless of their travail in Cuba, until his death in 1991. The opening prayer for the Mass went like this: “… in glorifying Christ, and sending us your Spirit, you open a way to eternal life …”. Maghy believed this with her whole heart. When the Eucharistic prayer was started, as is my custom, I expose the cross I wear faithfully. When I reached into my shirt to get the cross, it was not there! For a minute I was frantic. Not only is the cross valuable, but it was a gift to me from my daughter Lisa and Maghy and purchased in Fatima. I remembered taking it off while sun bathing but I was so rattled, I couldn’t think as to where I put it. Then I remembered, it was in my courier bag, which was right by side. I got it out and put it on. It was like getting it all over again.

I am better now. I was able to remember these two occasions without the pain and desolation I once felt. Out of nothing, God made a way for me, where I once saw none. He even puts up with me venting now and then.

Triduum
Holy Thursday at St Luke's of Belmont, Watertown, and Waltham: Gee! This was something. Sister Kathleen Moran, C. S J., was the "Master of Ceremonies". And, master is an apt word! Claire, Jane, and Maureen processed with the Chrism oils before me, and in between the altar servers and the celebrants. I was privileged to follow them with the Bowl, Pitcher and the Towel. These three things were the symbols for the washing of the feet ceremony, which was to follow.
Lent ends at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord's Supper.
The washing of the feet, which quite a few people took part in, was followed by the readings
Then came the gifts. Followed by the communion of the faithful. We are the Church Militant. And as such, we received, as a gift from Our Lord, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, his only begotten son.
At the end of the Mass of the Lord's Supper the Holy Eucharist was solemnly transferred by Monsignor Brady, the Altar servers, the processors, and the rest of the celebrants: Fr. Thomas F. Bouton; Fr. Alfred Cioffi; and other invited guest/celebrants, to the Eucharist Chapel. This is where Eucharistic adoration continued until midnight.
Mary Ceislik extended the honor to me, to which I am obviouxly grateful, to be among those that would sit with the entombed Christ in this adoration.
My appreciation to Sister Kathleen, Monsignor Brady, and all of the other Church ordained participants, is profound. You were great, it was great, He is great.

Good Friday: I took it slow. I don't think I had the energy for Good Friday activities at the Church. Especially in the light of being an active participant in both the Thursday and the Saturday liturgies.

The Easter Vigil: Bob, Casey, and Donna. Aleluia!
>Resurrection of the Lord -Easter Vigil - The service of the light.

It is about 7:45PM. The Church is dark. The Church is full of people, but in complete darkness. In the Narthex of the church, Monsignor Roger Brady, the principal celebrant, lights a kettle of fire, symbolizing hope and purity, then blesses it. In this fire, Monsignor Brady lights the new Easter Candle. Before lighting the candle, Monsignor prepares it, by caving onto it, a cross, the symbols for alpha and omega, and the number 2002. He then processes with the lit candle, to the altar. He stops three times shouting "Christ our light!"

From the new Easter Candle, Monsignor lights the candles or six of the acolytes. Each member of the congregation has a small personal taper. The acolytes light the taper of the first person in a pew, who passes the fire on to all the members of the pew. The Curch is a blaze with candle light.

Liturgy of the Word. There are four readings from the Old Testament: the creation story; the near sacrifice of Isaac; the Exodus story; Isaiah's tale of the new Zion. The Epistle is from St Paul's letter to the Romans concerning "being made safe for grace. The Gospel  is Matthew's account of the women meeting the angel at the empty tomb. The personal tapers are now extinguished, and the church lights come on.

Liturgy of the Baptism and Conformation. For over a year, Bob Rines and Casey Grant, Catechumenates, have been on a journey. Their faith filled journey has been a personal one, guided by R. C. I A. But, as they have traveled the road to join our community at St. Luke's, they have helped us begin to rediscover the good news in our own lives. Monsignor invites Bob and Casey forward to the baptismal font. He then leads them in the recitation of their Baptismal Promises and their Profession of Faith. Monsignor, pouring water over their heads recites the Baptismal Blessing they have waited so long to hear. For the second time, the acolytes spread the fire to the congregation's tapers. The entire congregation renews their baptismal vows while the Monsignor sprinkles us with Holy Water. Then Monsignor invites, Donna Compagnone, our journeying Candidate, to come forward to join Bob and Casey. Monsignor performs the sacrament of Conformation for all three. Then the congregation erupts with wild joy in applauding and shouts of alleluia! We are bursting with pride at having these three new members joining St. Luke's faith community.

The Mass now comes to an end with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the solemn blessing, and the dismissal. Party Time!!! Meet you downstairs!!

Feliz Pascua!


Easter Day
Family Day. How to say thanks to Kae and Lou? Well you can say thanks is a lot of languages.
Arabic: shuh'-krahn; Armenian: shur-nur-ah-gah-lem; Chinese (Mandarin): shieh shieh; Czech: deh'-ku-yih; Danish: tak (tahg); Dutch:dank (dahnk); Finnish: kiitos (kee'-toas); French: merci (mehr-see'); German: danke (dahn'-kuh); Greek: ef-har-ris-tou'; Hebrew: toh-dah'; Hungarian: köszönöm (kuh'-suh-nuhm); Indonesian: terima kasih (teh-ri-mah kah-sih); Italian: grazie (grahts'-yeh); Japanese: ah-ree-gah'-toh; Korean: kam'-sah hum-nee-dah'; Norwegian: takk (tahkk); Polish: dsyehn-koo-yeh; Portuguese: obrigado (oh-bree-gah'-doh); Romanian: muhl-tzu-mesk; Russian: spah-see'-boh; Spanish: gracias (grah'-syas); Swedish: tack (tahkk) ;Swahili: asante (ah-sahn'-teh); Thai: khob-kun; Turkish: teh-sheh-keur eh-deh-rim

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Visiting the USA's South West - has moved
I have moved , or consoidated my SW trip's travel journal so you keep track of me easier. So, continue to come to this page, then "click" and go!
Notice the long slim box to the left. Under the BLOGGER logo, you can read the phrase "Contact the author". By clicking on this phrase, you can send me an email with your feedback. Below the "Contact the author" phrase, from now on, whenever you want to see what's new in my travels, just click on the phrase "See my travel journal" in the long slim box to the left, under "Joseph X.", and you will get the latest update on my where abouts.

Notes for UGH (Uncommonground Coffee Shop)<

The Ear Game

Executive Summary
The good news is that my hearing issues pose no problem to my travel plans. Hooray! The bad news is that the sudden hearing loss that I experienced in my right ear on 1/19/2002 is permanent. But, there is more Good News. Mathematically, prior to 1/19/2002, my overall hearing was rated at 84%. Now, and with the help of a hearing aid in my left ear, my overall hearing rating has dropped 22 points to 62%. That is not too shabby.

Detailed Report
For more information go to my Detailed Report on my hearing.

Something of Note
As I was in Dr. Rauch's waiting room former U. S. Congressman Joe Kennedy came in and took the seat next to me. I introduced myself and told him I thought he was doing a great job getting affordable home heating oil to those in need. He said, "Thanks, Joe."

A memory from early Dad-hood

To give it context

It was April 1978. Due to some restructuring at with my job at Raytheon's Norwood's MA facility, I took the month of April off to do some thinking about where I wanted my career to go.

Like most April's in NE, this one was no exception. It was cool, dark, and rainy. Ever since that April, I have done my best to spend most of my Aprils away from NE in someplace were it was warn and sunny.

I was essentially looking for a new job. Most of my time was spent around the house conducting job searches on the phone or by mail. Ann Marie was working and Lisa, who would turn nine in July, was attending the Shamrock school on Eastern Avenue in Woburn.

The Memory

Lisa walked to and from school, a distance of less than one half mile, each way. School let out around 2:30PM. She would cut between the school and the project and round the bend at the end of Boline Place sometime between 2:30PM and 2:45PM. You could see this bend in road from the window above the sink in our kitchen at 119 Montvale Avenue, in Woburn, MA.

It got to be the highlight of my day. Around 2:30PM, I would find some excuse to be at the kitchen window. I would wait to catch sight of her as she cleared the last house on our side of Boline Place. My heart would leap! It was only then that I would realized that I was holding my breadth - until I saw her, I couldn't be convinced of her safety.

In the three or four minutes she took to get from the bend to the house, I would notice everything. When she rounded the bend, I would note which side of the street she used. Was she with, or near, anyone? Who? Was she wearing her jacket or sweater? Did her hair look neat or mussed? Many times she would stop and look around for no apparent reason. Was she kicking a rock, or using a stick on the fences? Was she carrying anything? What? Could I see her face well enough to guess at her mood?

Before she would reach the house, I would make sure the kitchen door was locked, and I would go down stairs to my job search office. I would do this to make sure she would have, and use, her key. Then I would listen: "Dad". "Are you home"?