As if to illustrate the difference between her temperament and her brother’s, my niece Emily asked me yesterday at church, “When are you going to get married?”
I lamely retorted something about waiting for her schedule to clear, but she just looked at me half confused. The proper comeback materialized (as they so often do) several minutes later: “When are you going to stop being such an impudent urchin?”
I was in Harrison over the weekend to attend a gathering for my brother, Trey, and his fiancee, Elaine, whose wedding is scheduled for November 5. I went to church Sunday morning at St. John’s Episcopal Church, attending my first service in the new chapel, featuring our new minister, Seamus Doyle. I should mention that Seamus is a former Irish Catholic, who left the priesthood to get married, and was later ordained into the Protestant Church. Which, if you think about it, moving from Catholic to Episcopal is the theological equivalent of “one small step for Man, one giant leap for Mankind” given the acrimony that still separates Catholics from Protestants in Ireland.
An added bonus was that Sunday’s service was the annual Blessing of the Animals, wherein members of the congregation bring their pets to church with them. That was a little surreal. Compounding the surrealism was that, given my brother’s impending nuptials, people kept mistaking me for him. I really should go home more often so that people remember what I look like; both my pediatrician and my band director thought I was Trey at first.
So how is Bob Phelan?
Still smoking, but at least he’s back at church. Last time I was there he had some rift with St. John’s. But guess who else was at our service? Robin Reeves.
Will you marry me?