Friends and Thanksgiving
As you know my friend, Bruce Wirtz, a retired Episcopal Priest, died on October 2nd. He was but 73 years old. I had known him since 1976.
Bruce and his wife Mary Virginia divorced many years ago. They had four wonderful children, Nelson, Kati, Andrew and Eunice.
Mary Virginia died in 2006 and I officiated at her funeral in Worcester, MA. Just six week previously I had officiated at the marriage of Nelson and his beloved Meredith, on Cape Cod.
Bruce met Ben Morse 15 years ago and they enjoyed a wonderfully loving relationship. It was largely because of Bruce and Ben that I moved here last year.
Nelson, Kati, Andrew and Eunice adored their father, and his partner Ben.
So it was no surprise that Nelson and Meredith invited Ben to join them on Cape Cod for Thanksgiving. Ben (85) asked if I would travel with him, and I was pleased to do so and be part of this family Thanksgiving. The family includes Emma, a fine thirteen year old young woman from Nelson’s first marriage.
Ben and I left Sarasota last Tuesday. Our first flight was delayed by four hours, and of course we missed a connection in Baltimore. Our re-booked flight took off 83 minutes late, and so it was nearly midnight before we arrived in Brewster where Nelson and Meredith live.
On Wednesday we “bummed around” the Cape, and then drove back to Boston, in two cars, to meet Meredith’s Step-Mother at Logan Airport. Then we took ourselves to Boston’s North End for a wonderful Italian Dinner. (See my yesterday’s sermon for a record of a sad incident in the restaurant).
After dinner I drove over to Cambridge/Somerville , whilst the others returned to Cape Cod. Nelson is a fire-fighter and was working a 24 hour shift on Thanksgiving, so they all ate at the Fire House in Chatham. I am told that it was quite the Feast, with deep fried Turkey.
Meanwhile I stayed overnight with my dears - Pat Michaels (the organist at St. James’s), his wife Laurie Rofinot (a Priest who also worked with me at St. James’s), and their daughter Marian.
Thanksgiving morning Pat had to play for the St. James’s service, so I played at cutting up apples with Laurie and Marian. Then Pat and I went for a long, long walk in balmy weather, and stopped by to see Tom Hirschi and his wife Jane Smillie, and their daughters Anna Lee and Ursula. This was fun cos Jane grew up in Sarasota, and we talked about the Town.
Pat, Laurie and Marian took me to their friends, Bob, Hanna and Sophie, for dinner. (Marian and Sophie are “best buds”). Bob is a somewhat eccentric professor, and Hanna (from Denmark) is an artist. We had a rollicking good time with excellent food, serious conversation, and lots of silly time when we laughed without measure.
I excused myself from dessert and hoved over to see Derrick Jackson (Boston Globe Columnist), his wife Michelle Holmes (Harvard Medical School breast cancer researcher), and their second son, 17 year old Tano. We ate dessert, and to my joy Michelle parents, Ken and Mary Holmes were there too. They were amongst my favourites at St. James’s.
Both dessert and fellowship were sweet, and I dragged myself away at about 8:30 p.m. to drive back to Cape Cod.
Friday dawned a little on the chilly side, but we took ourselves to Provincetown to have lunch at the Lobster Shack. I enjoyed superb Lobster Bisque.
On our way back we stopped to get Little Neck Clams and Oysters, and I for the first time in my life ate Oysters.
Ben and I left Cape Cod just before 5:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to return our rental car to Logan Airport and to fly back to SRQ via Atlanta. This time the fates were with us and we arrived at SRQ 10 minutes early - back into the warmth which I have grown to love!
Lord above, how blessed I am with so many friends.
Bruce and his wife Mary Virginia divorced many years ago. They had four wonderful children, Nelson, Kati, Andrew and Eunice.
Mary Virginia died in 2006 and I officiated at her funeral in Worcester, MA. Just six week previously I had officiated at the marriage of Nelson and his beloved Meredith, on Cape Cod.
Bruce met Ben Morse 15 years ago and they enjoyed a wonderfully loving relationship. It was largely because of Bruce and Ben that I moved here last year.
Nelson, Kati, Andrew and Eunice adored their father, and his partner Ben.
So it was no surprise that Nelson and Meredith invited Ben to join them on Cape Cod for Thanksgiving. Ben (85) asked if I would travel with him, and I was pleased to do so and be part of this family Thanksgiving. The family includes Emma, a fine thirteen year old young woman from Nelson’s first marriage.
Ben and I left Sarasota last Tuesday. Our first flight was delayed by four hours, and of course we missed a connection in Baltimore. Our re-booked flight took off 83 minutes late, and so it was nearly midnight before we arrived in Brewster where Nelson and Meredith live.
On Wednesday we “bummed around” the Cape, and then drove back to Boston, in two cars, to meet Meredith’s Step-Mother at Logan Airport. Then we took ourselves to Boston’s North End for a wonderful Italian Dinner. (See my yesterday’s sermon for a record of a sad incident in the restaurant).
After dinner I drove over to Cambridge/Somerville , whilst the others returned to Cape Cod. Nelson is a fire-fighter and was working a 24 hour shift on Thanksgiving, so they all ate at the Fire House in Chatham. I am told that it was quite the Feast, with deep fried Turkey.
Meanwhile I stayed overnight with my dears - Pat Michaels (the organist at St. James’s), his wife Laurie Rofinot (a Priest who also worked with me at St. James’s), and their daughter Marian.
Thanksgiving morning Pat had to play for the St. James’s service, so I played at cutting up apples with Laurie and Marian. Then Pat and I went for a long, long walk in balmy weather, and stopped by to see Tom Hirschi and his wife Jane Smillie, and their daughters Anna Lee and Ursula. This was fun cos Jane grew up in Sarasota, and we talked about the Town.
Pat, Laurie and Marian took me to their friends, Bob, Hanna and Sophie, for dinner. (Marian and Sophie are “best buds”). Bob is a somewhat eccentric professor, and Hanna (from Denmark) is an artist. We had a rollicking good time with excellent food, serious conversation, and lots of silly time when we laughed without measure.
I excused myself from dessert and hoved over to see Derrick Jackson (Boston Globe Columnist), his wife Michelle Holmes (Harvard Medical School breast cancer researcher), and their second son, 17 year old Tano. We ate dessert, and to my joy Michelle parents, Ken and Mary Holmes were there too. They were amongst my favourites at St. James’s.
Both dessert and fellowship were sweet, and I dragged myself away at about 8:30 p.m. to drive back to Cape Cod.
Friday dawned a little on the chilly side, but we took ourselves to Provincetown to have lunch at the Lobster Shack. I enjoyed superb Lobster Bisque.
On our way back we stopped to get Little Neck Clams and Oysters, and I for the first time in my life ate Oysters.
Ben and I left Cape Cod just before 5:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to return our rental car to Logan Airport and to fly back to SRQ via Atlanta. This time the fates were with us and we arrived at SRQ 10 minutes early - back into the warmth which I have grown to love!
Lord above, how blessed I am with so many friends.
What a lovely trip! It's nice to hear about the St. James folk, especially Ken and Mary, who I adored. I hope they're doing well.
ReplyDeleteWe knew Bruce Wirtz but briefly, since we were seatmates at Sarasota Opera. For us he was one of the most interesting people we have met in Florida since retiring there in 2002. While we never had the chance to know him well, we had grown very fond of this man who in many ways was "larger than life."
ReplyDeleteDespite his brief intrusion into our lives, he will be deeply missed. The opera and our suppers following performances will never seem quite the same. A bit of sparkle has gone from life with Bruce's passing.