Dear Friends,
Carlyn’s father, Bruce, was swimming at a friend’s summer-home pond in Worcester, MA when somethinghappened – we don’t know exactly what – to cause him to go under. A young man in a kayak paddled to himand dove in to rescue him – on his second try he pulled Bruce up, and with the help of others got him out of the water.
Emergency help arrived quickly – after about ten minutes they got a pulse. Bruce was rushed to St. Vincent’shospital where he was put on life support. As soon as we got the call Carlyn, Lory and I drove to the hospital–the prognosis was grim, but not impossible.
We drove home and Carlyn and Lory returned and stayed for six days, waiting, listening to the word from themedical team. When they finally removed life support Bruce breathed on his own for twenty minutes, then the breathing stopped and his life ended.
Carlyn is devastated, of course.
The night before Bruce’s funeral I got a call from my daughter Susan to tell me that her father-in-law died,ending his battle with cancer. Chip’s dad, Norm, was a gentle man with a warm smile. He and I sharedgrandchildren, Alex and Hannah – he was grandpa and I was papa.
On July 15 we’ll celebrate Norm’s life at the Plymouth Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass. where his daughter,Victoria, was married nineteen years ago. I officiated at that happy occasion.
So our summer plans are being altered, but Lory and I will be in Chautauqua most of the second week inJuly. It’s our twelfth year – we’ve always stayed in the Minister’s Union, but this year we’ll get to stay at thenew Unitarian House.
The first week in August we’ll visit Carlyn at the Banff Summer Music Program with opportunities to see andhear her perform, and we’ll do some hiking in the Canadian Rockies.
Maine is, of course, on the summer list – no reservations required, it’s catch as catch can.
I’ll be ‘on call’ for church emergencies most of July and Ed will be on call for most of August. You’ll be ableto reach us through the office. If you call on off hours you can leave a message on the answering machine.It’s extremely important to leave your name and number twice, and to speak very slowly.
Finally a word about our annual every-member canvass: the good news is that we received pledges to cover95% of what we need for a basic budget. We hope and trust that the other 5% will come from members andfriends who have not yet pledged and from others who will increase their pledge. I want to offer a heartfeltthank you for your generosity.
Thanks, too, to folks who have planned summer services, which I encourage you to attend. Have a greatsummer.
Yours,
Frank
