Small and harsh world.

I attended a funeral at my Church (St. Boniface, Siesta Key) this morning.  It was for a wonderful man named Joe Hinds (1924-2013).  I always loved to greet Joe and his wife Nancy after services, so was happy to be able to show my respect and love for Nancy this morning.

At the reception which followed the service I chatted with another of my favourite parishioners Carolyn W.  I said that I had seen (but not been able to greet) her Marine son, Jody.

Jody is just back from a tour in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps Special Forces.

Some of you will have read in the British and American press about the young American couple who were on their honeymoon in Australia this week.  They sky-dived (the wife in tandem), and the husband, an experienced jumper went solo.

Something dreadful happened on the way down, and as a result the husband was killed.  I glanced at this story and thought: "how awful, to die as a result of an accident on one's honeymoon".

My life went on.  It's going on so very painfully for the wife, Cherilyn.

The husband's name is Brandon.  He is also a Marine who had just returned from Afghanistan and got married on leave.

His death was "brought home to me" today.  For you see , our good parishioner Jody was in the same 30 man unit in Afghanistan with Brandon.  They were close buddies in a very cohesive special forces group.

Jody is hurting like hell.  Pray for him, for his fellow Marines in that unit, and for Cherilyn.  The Military is sending  'plane to bring her and her husband's remains back to the States.

Semper Fi.

Comments

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 rem...
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

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 a...
Read more