You wake up in the morning....

12/20

You wake up in the morning and he is still dead...

Tim and his associate from the Bowery Residential Community come in their  orange jackets for  conversation  with  Christopher  and me. This is hard. I can feel in Christopher the reluctance to live anywhere except West-Park. On the other hand, there  is the reality that the  fire department does not really  want anyone living in our building. On the other, I know that long term  Christopher needs to live somewhere where nevertheless, he can be  moving towards an independent  living situation where he could be  responsible  for his own future. Tim outlines various possibilities for Christopher even wile  I just want to say , no , just stay here as long as you want...knowing that is not realistic. Knowing that what it would take to make it  fully fire proof is virtually impossible, Christopher  just wants to go out and raise the money, But I know  long term what he actually  needs. The options  are all out there. They’ll  be back in touch with Christopher tomorrow.

Martin stops in wanting to help any way he can. 

Stephen and Jay are going through every inch trying to figure out how to extend Internet service to  the church house building.  How many feet of cable needed? Under the church? Through the basement? Over the floors? How?  

Mark from the United Nations Ministry walks in.  He’s on one of his long walks and just wants to know  how we’re doing. He is aware of what Teddy meant to us. Just wants to know how we are. And as a friend, as part of our extended family, I let Mark know It’s hard. It hurts. Mark is a quintessential example of what it means to be a Presbyterian witness in this world. And yet he can look back on the last couple of weeks and see the loss of  Cynthia Bolbach, former  moderator, the highest elected position in our church and the loss of Teddy and see them both as expressions of the same faithful ministry. I am thankful for Mark’s being part of our extended ministry. His visit means a lot to me.

An Icelandic couple comes in just to look at the church. Here to celebrate the holidays. I share that the amazing Icelandic women’s  chorus Graduale Nobili had performed at West Park. The  appearance of Icelandic political  and cultural officials. And Nate’s comment that these are the  whitest women he had ever  seen. Ethereal, precise and on the line  singers.

Graduale Nobili

Another  couple comes  in simply wanting to find the right place for  a memorial service for someone they love. 

Long talk with Marc. We want to send  his recording work on to Shannon in Seattle. And also the work he did with Catherine Feeny’s concert  at West Park. Marc has done amazing  things capturing the music that has been performed at West Park, all with care and respect for those  who  have performed here. 

Danielle and I are working very hard to prepare for her  going home  for the holidays. 

My friend Beppe arrives, mainly to talk with me about Teddy.

Later I will have a vegan dinner and catch up with Katherine.  

Look...for the record. Teddy was not a saint anymore than any of us are. He knew me. Knew what my vision of what the church should be  and decided to live it out as if it were real.Through a very difficult and painful year, he helped keep  the church, and me, together. He protected me from the chaos. Was my right hand. Helped me to be who I wanted to be and so found who he wanted to be. I loved him. And he is irreplaceable.