Taking care of unfinished business: a visit with my high school chaplain (forty years later) after the jump …..
A FOLLOW-UP – this past summer, I wrote a Moose diary on attending my 40th high school reunion in July. A wonderful time, renewing old acquaintances that included our principal. Plus, a chance to visit a classmate (whom I admittedly did not know well) who is in a nursing home, who suffers from both a neurological disease and a stroke.
But there was one piece of unfinished business … and this past Thanksgiving weekend, I finally had a chance to visit with the Jesuit chaplain (James Boesel) of the school I attended. He is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s (must be in his 80’s, I imagine) and lives in retirement at a church rectory where he receives care, physical therapy and the like.
He was alert, could only speak in 2-3 word bursts, but did seem to recognize names I mentioned, and how rewarding I felt our reunion was. And he smiled when I showed him this photo from my senior yearbook – a purely posed photo, neither of us are named (and may be surprising to those who know me only as a bald man) ….. but to me, it is priceless.
And he also smiled when I told him the reason why I first came to see him in 1973 was not any need for counseling (spiritual or otherwise) … but that I was simply bored stiff one day (with two of my classes cancelled). After that first meeting, I would drop in his office just to chat from time-to-time during my junior and senior years … and when I asked if he was busy, he always pushed aside any paperwork and said to sit down. We just talked about current events (such as Watergate, Vietnam, the 1973 NY Mets pennant race) and my plans after graduation. He and our principal were learned, very worldly Jesuits, which was reflected in our education …. and represented a time that (I hope) has not passed.
I limited this visit to 15 minutes, which turned out to be a good call – that is all I needed (as I did 99% of the talking). And when I mentioned this on our Class of 1974 dedicated Facebook page … wow, did I get some responses. In this year of our 40th reunion gathering … I think a circle was finally completed, visiting him.
I’ll close with a song for him, and for the upcoming Yuletide season. Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) was written by Duke Jordan, and recorded by Donald Byrd – with Herbie Hancock on piano and Kenny Burrell on guitar – and was performed at Martin Luther King’s funeral.
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