A joyful reunion. A ghastly tragedy.

A joyful reunion

My Brasilian friend Gabriel and I drove to Lakeland, FL (about 70 miles north east of Sarasota) to have lunch with my niece Anne Weston, her husband Stuart and their daughter Olivia. The Westons, from England, are on vacation at Disneyland – which is maybe 40 miles east of Lakeland.


Anne and Stuart had told Olivia that she would be meeting her “crazy Uncle John”. I lived up to that appellation by being silly enough to make Olivia giggle.



I’d officiated in Bristol, England, at Anne and Stuart’s wedding, but had not seen them since my mother’s funeral in 2001. We had a lovely time together today.

jmp, Stuart, Anne, Olivia.









-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



A ghastly tragedy.





Also in 2001, or maybe it was 2002 a wonderful family joined St. James’s in Cambridge. They were the parents Ken and Tess Pope, and their four children - two sets of twins - Ramsey and Connor, the older boy twins, and Molly and Hunter, the younger boy/girl twins.




We became fast friends. I ‘specially bonded with the children as I am also a twin.




On Sunday (15th) young Hunter became very ill with influenza. He was rushed to the hospital, but died on Sunday evening from complications of the influenza which affected his heart. He was 12 years old.




(Can you damn well envision that - a 12 year old who dies as a result of flu?)




My heart has been aching and breaking all day for the Pope family, especially for Molly the surviving younger twin.

His funeral will be on Saturday 21st Feb. I will not be there, but my heart will be with the Pope family, with the good people of St. James’s, and with their fine Rector, Holly Lyman Antolini.

In the providence of God I had already planned to be in Boston a week later on February 28th. I will carve out some time that day to be with the Pope family.








Hunter Pope (1)



Hunter Pope (2)





Comments

  1. Anonymous17 February 2009 at 08:43

    That is terribly sad. My heart goes out to the Popes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suzer17 February 2009 at 22:56

    Only just saw this now, and my heart aches for this family, and all who love them. Prayers ascending that God will hold their grieving hearts in His hands, and help them through this time of tragic sorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wormwood's Doxy18 February 2009 at 15:44

    MadPriest gave a link here. Prayers for this family---my daughter had a playmate a few years ago who died of the same illness. He was 4 years old. Tragic...

    Pax,
    Doxy

    ReplyDelete
  4. J0SH1 August 2009 at 21:35

    He was my friend at BLA he went home that day right before gym and on sunday the news reached me. everyone was devastated especially molly and our friend ian.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not remember the words “ar
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were able to get together a few
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur
Read more