11/20/2018
HAPPY THANKSGIVING and TOMMYT Health Care Experience update.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!  And my best wishes for a great holiday season ahead and for 2019. 

Optional TommyTFreedomTourBlog note below.    

Circa Late October/November 2018. 

Deep breath.

It's a TommyTFreedomTourBlog blognote . 

Maybe.  It's long enough to qualify!

Phew.  What a ride!   Not this plane ride but the last six months!!

Plane ride now to LA with misc. reading material that's been on the night table collecting dust.   Kid Astray "no easy way out" plays on the BEATS headphones (need 2 of these fully charged for long flights) and the NYT Gaga story is being digested and inspiring whatever modest creativity I might possess to write some thoughts in the aftermath of several evolutions of new experiences; seeing Gaga in "A Star is Born", visiting St. Petersburg, Russia and Berlin for the first time, and having nearly completed a 6 month immersive and intensive journey into the world of Primary Care Health Center for the underserved populations and local communities ......  at the VNACJ Community Health Center headquartered in Asbury Park, NJ.

The word that appears on the NYT magazine Gaga page and in my mind simultaneously is "limitlessness".  Gaga, for sure ! Me? Well, I feel it anyway.

It's a joyous word defined by the lack of boundary that allows for freedom to explore, experience and recreate just who I am.

Who am I, today?

I'm different once again.    You can't immerse for 30+ years in the world of Wall Street, then take a detour into healthcare with the workers (200% caring and compassionate) and the patients they care for, and not be impacted.   Changed.   Forever.

I'm told I'm unique and a rare bird, but just like on the Camino it's simply all about the people and engaging them.  Appreciating each individual for who they are, as a person, on this planet.  Moms, dads, struggling single parents with two jobs, 30 year health care veterans who realized no one was caring for AIDS patients and said "I'll do it" and never stopped.  And people fresh out of school (graduate social work MPH type degrees) that would welcome earning what "teachers" earn and get those outsized benefits!! Forget about the stupidity of Wall Street or Hollywood money.   Community health care doesn't really contain any of those eccentricities, whether you are at the front desk receiving the patient or an MD providing care.   Or the CEO, for that matter!

Its challenging, purpose-filled work, made more mountainous because the majority of the population community health centers (FQHCs) serve is challenged to know what is available to them.   Do you realize that in this century young children have died because a cavity became an infection became an illness... all untreated due to access and affordability ending in a death.  In this country the USA!!  Absurd.  But true.

It's not like you have JPMorgan's or State of NJ Employee Benefits brochure to guide you if you're not in one of those tracks.

The social determinants of health dominate a subset of our population (our community, your community) and impact everything about both their knowledge of and willingness to engage the health care system.    Hopefully, usually, and sometimes they find their CHC ( the VNACJ Community Health Center headquartered in Asbury Park, NJ is the one I served with) , but sometimes they just don't.

An educated and gainfully employed individual might have a hard time understanding how this could be.   An FQHC employee sees it every day and knows it is common and constant, and these individuals deserve a caring and compassionate place to come for primary health care and the ancillary services that FQHCs provide.

Healthy and employed? Unemployed? Have insurance or no insurance? Money or no money? Migrant worker?  Ex-con? Or just an ordinary resident looking for good and caring doctor? Male/Female/Transgender/LGBTQ+?  The world I just experienced contains approximately 90+ employees that do not judge nor define a person by any preconceived definition or category except as a human being who is both welcomed and deserving of health care.  Professional and respectful treatment with a focus on keeping you well.  I had the added privilege of meeting many of those same people who serve their communities in one of the other 22 FQHC Health Centers in New Jersey.  More on the Nation's Federally Qualified Health Centers serving 1 in every 15 people in the USA  can be found at; 

 http://www.nachc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AmericasHealthCenters_FINAL.pdf

It has been an amazing immersion, and it has advanced..... no, it has changed, my mindset, and I already knew a lot as a board member and longtime supporter of our local CHC organization. 

Now, knowing what I know, I'm armed.   Keep your lofty notions on self-reliance in check until we level the playing field in health care and education.  And keep your judgment on who deserves it checked, too.   Community Health Centers work, and they work efficiently and cost-effectively 

Crossroads?   What, I've been asked, is going to be next now that my mission here leading our CHC is complete? 

I do not know.  I'm engaged in a host of conversations back in the world of finance, quite naturally because I've loved my job serving and engaging clients and the evolving fin-tech technologies in that arena.

But I've also really loved my role, my mission, and the people I've worked with in this health care arena.  I also loved being a dishwasher and a barker on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, NJ, so what else is new.  BUT, this CHC mission and the people are very, ! very, ! very ! special.  Dedicated, committed, and passionate are the three words that define my co-workers.   All of them!

  

And I'm blessed to have had these two arenas, so separate, different and unique, to be part of my personal experience over the last 7 years.  Twice now with my interim CEO roles with the Visiting Nurses (VNAHG) and now the VNACJ Community Health Center, I have truly blessed (realize that means over 2000 employees in health care got a small taste of TommyT emails....OMG! oh, what a burden!)

Now, what to do?  Sabbatical #3? Nah!   Retire?  Me? Seriously,? My energy could run a power plant, so that's not in the cards.    And, frankly, I've acquired a small amount of something many people, especially very senior managers and so-called LEADERS seem to lack.  

What, you ask, might that be?

Humility, in a word.

I'm self-aware of my frailties and faults, and know I can always do better.  Much better, just ask my wife!  But, I try.  I also try to simply engage people as people, without rank or judgement.    My last 6 months gave me an opportunity to improve on that one, and ever so modestly, with my fellow healthcare colleagues help, I reflect back in satisfaction on my people engagement.

So let’s go find that next challenge.

I realize Wall Street loves my experience and depth (they do, right!??l), but are looking for TommyT at 45 years old.  My problem is I have 30 year-old energy packaged in this "55 and over" body.

I also realize healthcare is God's work, and I enjoy it and the people who serve the mission of caring for their community.   It's a special calling, and I'm so proud of my daughter, Allie, for the part (a very important one in one of the larger FQHCs in the country!!) she plays in it.  (Ps.  I'm very proud of my two other non-health-care children too, to be clear.)

So now it’s about what appears, what materializes, and what organization might need my energy and passion.

I've, fortunately, found a few possible paths to pursue.  Now, let’s identify the adventure that's big and challenging enough to absorb all I've got to give.

Coach and team to be named.   I'm ready.

Happy Thanksgiving and warmest wishes and regards for the 2018 holiday season ahead.

Peace

Love

Tt

2015 ONE AND ONLY BLOG NOTE POST HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THOUGHTS

2015 one and only TommyT Freedom Tour Blognote

TOPICS

Happy New Year

Morgan Stanley and industry layoffs/changes

The Big Short------ the fictional movie version.

Funny Bones are BACK!!!

Bruce, the River Tour REVISITED

Blessings and family.

Best wishes 2016.

Well I hope 2015 was a rewarding and fulfilling one for you and wishing you the best for 2016 and Happy New Year. Sabbatical #2 has come to a close for me and I am looking forward to re-engaging in what I hope will be a creative and positive experience for all involved as I embark on launching some high-end connectivity tools for clients alongside my partners at CastleOak Securities, where I will reside as Senior Advisor as of Monday, January 4th, 2016.

2015 has many memories, most of them involving travel, fun and occasional professional exploration and mission-search. That search has found a very creative home that I look forward to sharing with you in the near term.

In the meantime, I can't help but reflect on the continued evolution of Wall Street's New New Normal, where shrinking and displacement are constantly in flux alongside continued fines for doing everything regulatorily possible to get fined for! Well, all of that is coming home to roost for the shrinking work force despite record corporate bond issuance and record M&A activity. The NEW NEW NORMAL is regulation overpopulation, an incredibly burdened compliance arena, alongside the shrinking capacity to fulfill client needs. Tough environment indeed.

My friends at Morgan Stanley stole the December headlines with a aggressive shrinking of their own with over 1200 layoffs in markets jobs around the globe, and I know both many of the displaced and those that had to do the displacing. Many of these 10yr/20yr/25 year veterans are looking forward to finding a place to re-energize their relationships and positive client service, something they knew so well at that firm. I look forward to being as helpful as I can be.

I did go see The Big Short, and while it has a good handle on some of what happened to create the mortgage/housing/markets implosion 2007-2008, there were a few missing stars of the movie as I saw it. Barney Frank was one noticeably absent star, alongside any FNMA/Freddie/Agency reps. Seems like the movie version forgot that Wall Street had plenty of help, from Washington DC to the irresponsible Florida and Vegas property speculators. The folks who called it and got it right were there, but they never knew how right it was going to be. So +489% at Scion was the result of a lot more than Wall Street repackaging, but for movie purposes it serves the entertaining plotline and political winds.

FUNNY BONES are back!!!! I loved them as a kid growing up, and for Xmas my wife gave me a 10 pack! That pack of Funny Bones is long gone, but it is good to know I can always get more after I give up everything sweet and lose the weight and reduce eating and drinking etc and all the other commitments to health that are ready to launch with January 1, 2016.

2016!!! Holy Cow, last time there was a thing called "The River Tour", I took my girlfriend to Madison Square Garden for our first "Bruce" date. Now, Q1 2016, 35 years later than that November 1980 show we have quite a bit of road traveled and shows seen and life lived. Blessed and Happily. Two sabbaticals, three kids (no grandkids yet, but two son-in-laws after 2016), two labradors (Jake left us this October after nearly 14 years as the best puppy on the planet), and one wife who is under-appreciated because one can't put a price on putting up with me.  No, I'm not saying I'm priceless. I'm saying she is.

Hope to see a few of you on the road with "The River Tour " Springsteen in Q1 2016.

I could have much more to say and write, but perhaps this is the new "normal" for me. I'm hoping this note finds you, and finds you well. I'm hoping the blessings of life and meaningful tasks and work and fulfillment have continued for you on your path and your Camino. I'm hoping your family, friends, and all loved ones have carried you to a happy 2015 and I wish nothing less for you and yours for 2016.

Peace
TT
12/31/2015

MINI-SABBATICAL SUMMER 2014

to friends, colleagues, and professional associates;

I just wanted to send you a quick update on my current status and travel plans, in the form of a hopefully short blognote.  

While always working hard in my career, I am very fortunate and blessed to be currently "funemployed".  It is a privilege and a blessing that I have this time, and I try not to forget that in this world of ours.

I've had great conversations and discussions on various opportunities, but purposely no conclusions as I thought it was important to take some time and reflect between my last seat and my next.  

So, naturally, I am going to go where I've had reasonable success reflecting, back to the Camino de Santiago in Spain.    I first did the Camino on my TommyTFreedomTour in the Fall of 2007.  This time around I will start on Tuesday, July 15th, in Lourdes, France, about 100 miles east of Spain.

Such a different time-

Such a different perspective/viewpoint----

In '07.  I knew nothing.  Not what I was going to do next, not that the stock market was about to crash, nor any clue what the CAMINO entailed.  

Then my eldest was in college-- now she married and my youngest is halfway through college.

My mother, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, brother-in-law were all here sharing life with me.  Now they have passed on and are rich in my heart and in my petitions at Lourdes.

Then the financial professional was at its/his/her peak; now some of the best companies and people I know have been through a six year ringer of vilification,  denigration, demonization and thankfully some healing and recovery ( and continuous mega - billions of fines and constant retribution).    We re-regulated the industry and put guardrails around it (the government did that, which gives me no comfort).    

This time I'm aware of the destination and what I will potentially encounter---weather, scenery, people of all ilks. and walks of life!!!! But I'm also fully aware, now that I have a benchmark, that this time will be so different--'so meaningful in its own singular right--- That anything old will be new and uniquely interpreted.    When I see a butterfly??? , or a dragon fly, or a person who "looks" familiar??

My IPOD is different , too.  Foster the People, Katy Perry, Walk the Moon, Phoenix, Passion Pit, Beach House, Magic Man, the Colourist!!! , Crystal Fighters, Youngblood Hawke---- these bands might have existed, but .....and of course I have my memories and my recordings of BRUCE!! and Cape Town, South Africa from January, the real start to this mini -sabbatical! !! 

That is how my job search feels too.  I know most of the people,  I'm finding incredibly interesting conversation and situations, and they are all now seen through a POST SABBATICAL #1---POST CAMINO #1 viewpoint. And that lens is so different than the one I had at Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley.  It's a Jefferies, Visiting Nurse Health, Bonds.com lens---

It's not a " go get a job" thought, not one bit.  

I want something that can absorb my passion and energy, be incredibly challenging and intellectually stimulating and vibrant, and can create lasting value for......everyone involved.

The people I join, the people/clients I touch, for the industry I participate in.   

So I'm going to walk, and then I'm committed to finding the right next seat where with honest, dedicated effort and a great team of people I can see, over the horizon, the opportunity to create that lasting value.

Although we made progress and raised the industry dialogue,  I didn't achieve that goal at Bonds.com.  We created some excitement, some true discussion;  but we didn't have the "Glengarry tools/leads/structure", metaphorically speaking.   Mind you, this was our/my fault, because our clients both buy-side and sell-side were screaming for us, or SOMEONE/ANYONE, to take the electronic corporate bond marketplace to a new level.  So I have to thank all those who gave us time and effort, and I'm as disappointed as anyone we couldn't get it done during my tenure.

  

So, onto Lourdes and beyond , with prayers, petitions (send me yours if you'd like me to carry them with me) , to renew and cleanse my mind, body and spirit, and lose about 30 lbs walking in the summer heat.

Just finished, for the 2nd time, a very old and very reflective and interesting book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig.  A few quotes caught my eye and my mind, and they are;

"The time for the real unification of art and technology is really long overdue".  The book was written in 1974, so it sounds like Steve Jobs read/heard of the book.

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/mahendraramsinghani/2012/12/16/why-every-entrepreneur-should-read-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/ )

and this quote--- "work is a material reflection of a spiritual reality".     That is what I'm after in Lourdes and on this walk.  And when I get back.

I wish you all an enjoyable summer (or winter my Cape Town friends).   In the meantime I'll tweet whatever I find needs tweeting at --(TWEETS ARE ONLY 140 CHARACTERS-- I know this makes you happy!)

twitter: CAMINOPATHAHEAD

One last quote from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"----

"The place to improve the world is start in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there---Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind.  

I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle.  I think what I have to say has more lasting value".   

I think Robert Pirsig, the author, upon my 2nd reading, had incredible foresight and depth that was certainly under-appreciated by the 121 publishers that turned him down.  Fortunately #122 thought what he had to say had more lasting value,  Decades and millions of book sales later, the talk about destiny continues, but the place to improve the world is to start in ones own heart.  A very good theme to leave you with this summer and to carry with me to Lourdes and my Camino ahead!  CaminoPathAhead!.

Peace,

tt

helen thees farewell tribute 7/12/13 ________________ Helen Marie Thees 5/11/1927-6/30/2013

below is the eulogy i delivered in honor of my mom on 7/12th at St. Joseph's church.
I am one of four siblings, the youngest, and my elder brother Jerry started us off with a beautiful memory of Mom starting in Jersey City and then to Port Monmouth.  Jerry's comments about how much Mom loved music and especially live music really enlightened me, being the incredible music enthusiast I am.  Jerry talked about how easy going Mom was, how welcoming of his friends, and also how embracing of all types of music Mom was.   She obviously loved Frank Sinatra, and saw him with Doris Lee as teenagers at Lincoln High School in Jersey City!!!  But well beyond that Jerry mentioned music of all sorts, including her enjoying Jimi Hendrix when Jerry brought him into the house.  and , also, when Jerry told Mom he was going to Woodstock Mom said "be careful" and blessed the trip.  She was cool way back then.  

Jerry told the rabbit story.  Jerry caught a bunny rabbit in Port Monmouth (we lived on 8 Campbell Avenue!) and for storage that night he put the rabbit in a big upright freezer chest and closed it before he went to bed.   The next morning the freezer chest was knocked over and Mom said the Mother Rabbit had come and knocked over the freezer chest to get her baby out.  in 2010 Jerry asked mom what the truth was about the rabbit and the chest.  she stood by her story, "must have been the mother rabbit".  Jerry was eloquent and captured mom perfectly, and I am so glad he spoke.  For me, of course, I was going to speak if i could speak.   Losing your mother or father, whoever you are, is very emotionally impacting and draining.   and now that i've gone through it once with some awareness (my father died of cancer in 1988, although at the time i didn't actually think he was in the hospital to die, but he was) or suddenly, as in Mom's case, with no warning, it doesn't matter.   it drains and challenges you, all the while you think of the blessings.   that is what i  tried to think of below.

GOOD MORNING AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE--

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE AT CAMY AND MIKE'S WEDDING AND WONDERING IF THIS WILL BE AS SHORT A SPEECH AS THAT ONE WAS, IT WILL NOT BE –

WE ALL HAVE MOTHERS, SO PERHAPS SOME OF MY COMMENTS WILL REMIND YOU OF YOURS, AND IF IT DOES THAT AT A MINIMUM, WELL, THAT IS A GOOD THING.

SOME OF US HAVE ALREADY LOST OUR MOM'S AND OUR DAD'S, AND I GIVE THIS REMEMBRANCE IN HONOR OF ALL THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS, LIVING AND PASSED, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT SURROUNDED ME AND MY FRIENDS DURING OUR UPBRINGING HERE IN TOMS RIVER.  I ALSO EXTEND MY SHARED SYMPATHY WITH SCOTT & PAUL METZGER, AND THEIR FAMILIES, IN ACKNOWLEDGING THE PASSING OF THEIR MOM SUZANNE, MY SISTER-IN-LAW AND LIZ'S SISTER.

SO FITTING THAT WE ARE HERE AT ST. JOSEPHS'S, B/C MANY OF THE LESSONS I LEARNED FROM MY MOM HAPPENED WITHIN EARSHOT OF RIGHT HERE.

I'M SURE MY SHORT COMMENTS APPLY TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTER AS WELL, BUT JERRY, ALICEMARIE AND BOBBY WERE THE OLDER SIBLINGS, AND I WAS THE BABY, SO BY THE TIME SHE GOT TO ME SHE HAD TRIED AND TESTED METHODS.

LETS JUST SAY I GAVE MOM A RUN FOR HER MONEY.  AND SHE INSPIRED ME TO MAKE SURE I HAD SOME MONEY OF MY OWN.   BUT SHE WAS DETERMINED IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM THAT I WOULD GET AND LEARN THE MESSAGES SHE WAS SENDING.  PP   BREATHE

MOM CAME FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, BUT I NEVER KNEW THAT.  I NEVER GAVE OUR MEANS OR BEGINNINGS ANY THOUGHT, AS MY MOM'S HAPPY DISPOSITION AND TRUST AND FAITH IN BOTH PEOPLE AND GOD MADE IT SEEM LIKE THERE WASN'T A CONCERN IN THE WORLD, EVEN PAYING THE RENT.   GOD WOULD PROVIDE, AND A LITTLE PRAYING TO THAT SPECIAL SAINT FOR YOUR NEED DIDN'T HURT EITHER.         1

    MY MOM TAUGHT ME SO MANY THINGS, BUT IT WAS THE WAY SHE TAUGHT THEM THAT STICKS WITH ME TODAY..

A few examples.

MY MOM TAUGHT ME THE PRINCIPLES OF JESUS; TO BE A GOOD PERSON, TO BE HONEST, TO BE TRUTHFUL, TO CARE FOR OTHERS, AND TO HELP THOSE IN NEED, AND IT SEEMED LIKE HER FAVORITE CLASSROOM WAS THE ACME SUPERMARKET RIGHT UP THE BLOCK FROM HERE [ NOW A WAWA] , AT LEAST FOR ME, THE BABY OF THE FAMILY.

SO, AT THE ACME I WAS TAUGHT TO HELP ELDERLY LADIES WITH THEIR GROCERIES, I WAS SENT BACK IN WITH THE MONEY WHEN MY MOM RECEIVED "TOO MUCH" CHANGE, 

THEN WE WOULD DRIVE OFF TO HOME AND SHE WOULD STOP THE CAR BECAUSE SHE SAW AN ELDERLY WOMAN ABOUT TO CROSS THE STREET ON HOOPER AVENUE ---AND TELL ME TO GO HELP THAT NICE PERSON CROSS THE STREET--- WHICH I PROMPTLY DID BECAUSE I KNEW MY MOM WAS SO GOOD TO ME AND I WANTED TO MAKE AND KEEP HER HAPPY.

MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME THE MEANING OF YES, AND MOST ESPECIALLY OF NO.
MY BEST ILLUSTRATION IS THE "CANDY" STORY.

NOW I REMIND YOU I WAS A QUICK LEARNER, BUT I WAS OCCASSIONALLY IN NEED OF REINFORCEMENT.   

SO WE ARE AT THE CHECKOUT COUNTER AT THE ACME, CIRCA 1965, AND I TELL MOM I'D LIKE SOME CANDY AND MOM SAID "NO"!

WELL, WE GO THROUGH CHECKOUT AND HELPING WITH THE BAGS INTO THE CAR AND I GET IN THE BACK SEAT AND MOM'S GETTING READY TO DRIVE AWAY.   SHE LOOKS IN THE MIRROR AND SEES ME CHEWING ON CANDY AND, WELL, BY 1965 HELEN THEES STANDARDS, ALL “H”  “NO CURSING” BREAKS LOSE.  CAR BACK IN PARKING SPOT. MOM OUTSIDE, ME OUTSIDE, ME BEING LEAD BY MY EAR BACK INSIDE THE ACME, BACK TO THE CASHIER, MOM INSISTS THEY GET THE MANAGER, AND IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT I AM GOING TO JAIL, THE SLAMMER, AT AGE 5.

2

WELL, I PUT THE CANDY ON THE COUNTER, MOM PAYS FOR THE CANDY, I APOLOGIZE TO THE CASHIER AND TO THE MANAGER AND THEN WE LEAVE AND SHE LEAVES THE CANDY TOO AFTER PAYING FOR IT!!!

SO THAT IS THE MEANING OF NO TO ME.

ALL THIS AT A FOODSTORE!!! I CAN ONLY IMAGINE ALL THE THINGS OUR DAD DID, BECAUSE HE WORKED AT A FOODSTORE ALL DAY LONG AND I JUST VISITED A COUPLE TIMES A WEEK!!!

PP    BREATHE

SPEAKING OF WORK, MY MOM TAUGHT ME THAT WORK WAS A PRIVILEGE, AND A GOOD THING, AND SHE TAUGHT ME  THAT

BY TEACHING ME ABOUT FREEDOM.   

YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE FREEDOM YOU WANT, IF YOU DO YOUR CHORES.  NO, I WILL NOT BUY YOU THAT NEW BICYCLE, BUT IF YOU SAVE YOUR MONEY FROM YOUR PAPER ROUTE YOU CAN GET IT.  SO, YES, SHE TAUGHT ME FRUGALITY TOO.

FREEDOM—IT WAS PRETTY SIMPLE---WORK WAS EXPECTED AND EMBRACED, IN EXCHANGE FOR FREEDOM.   YOU WANT TO GO PLAY BASEBALL, FOOTBALL, PLAY IN THE SAND PITS WITH YOUR MINIBIKE THAT YOUR WORK PAID FOR, ALL THAT WAS POSSIBLE IF YOU DID YOUR WORK.

INCLUDING, OF COURSE, YOUR SCHOOLWORK, MOST IMPORTANTLY.   

  __MY MOM DIDN'T JUST ASK, SHE LEAD BY EXAMPLE.  SO AS THE OTHER KIDS GOT OLDER MY MOM HAD MULTIPLE JOBS, INCLUDING 10 YEARS ON THE FACTORY LINE WITH HER FRIENDS AT FLUID PACKAGING.  AND OF COURSE WHEN I WAS FINISHED WITH MY DAY SHE WAS STILL WORKING---SO JUST DOWN THE ROAD AFTER TOMS RIVER LITTLE INDIANS FOOTBALL PRACTICE, WHICH WAS EVERY NIGHT FROM 6-8:30PM, I'D WALK DOWN TO THE JERSEY SHORE SAVINGS & LOAN, AND BE READY TO GO HOME ONCE MY MOM WAS FINISHED CLEANING THAT GIANT BANK.

PP   BREATHE 3

LASTLY, BUT NOT LEAST, MY MOM TAUGHT MY SIBLINGS AND ME ABOUT LOVE.

NOW, TO BE CLEAR, THIS LESSON WAS A BIT MORE WIDESPREAD SO SHE DIDN'T JUST TEACH ME LOVE AT THE ACME FOODMARKET.

SHE TAUGHT ME LOVE IN HOW SHE LIVED, EVERYWHERE. 

 1)FIRST, SHE CARED FOR HER MOM, MY NANNI, IN OUR HOME.  

  2) SHE WELCOMED MY FRIEND BILLY INTO SMALL APARTMENT AFTER HIS DAD DIED AND THE REST OF HIS FAMILY WAS MOVING AWAY.  OH, AND SHE AND MY DAD INFORMED ME THAT THEY WOULD TAKE THE SMALLER ROOM AND BILLY AND I WOULD SHARE THE LARGER ONE.  

   3) SHE TAUGHT ME LOVE IN HOW SHE CARED AND TOOK CARE OF MY DAD, AND I MEAN BEFORE HE GOT SICK.  I MEAN EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES TOGETHER. 

SHE WAS SELFLESS AND HUMBLE, EVERY DAY.   YET, SOMEHOW SHE INSURED THAT I KNEW HOW TO DREAM , AND DREAM BIG.  

SHE TAUGHT ME LOVE IN THE PURE JOY SHE SHOWED OF BEING WITH FRIENDS, LOVED ONES, FAMILY.   GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN.

THEN, AFTER ALL THAT, SHE MOVED TO FLORIDA..  WARM WEATHER FOREVER~!!!!

PP  BREATHE

MOM WOULD VISIT YEARLY FOR AL AND NOW TRACEY'S DANCE RECITAL.  BUT, FOR THE MOST PART, WE WOULD ALL NOW HAVE A REASON TO GO TO FLORIDA.  And, ALICEMARIE, YOUR BROTHERS THANK YOU FOR WE KNOW YOU TOOK CARE OF MOM AND SHE OF YOU.  

MOM WOULD BE TALKED INTO JOINING US AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ON CRUISES, HAWAII, GRAND CAYMANS, PUERTO RICO AND OF COURSE DISNEY WORLD AND FINALLY HELEN'S 85TH BIRTHDAY DISNEY CRUISE. 

BUT WE GOT MOM BACK TO NEW JERSEY FOR ONE WINTER, AND MOST OF US CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS 2010 IN NJ.  THE NEXT DAY, AS YOU WILL RECALL, WE GOT 3 FEET OF SNOW AND IT DIDN'T MELT TILL MARCH.      4

SO, HERE WE ARE 53 YEARS AFTER MY BIRTH AND 86 YEARS AFTER HELEN'S, AND I WOULD SUGGEST TO YOU THIS IS HOW SHE PLANNED IT.   HELEN LIVED A LONG, HEALTHY, AND HAPPY LIFE, AND CERTAINLY WE HAD MANY MORE PLANS FOR HER.  BUT SHE AND GOD HAVE SAID OTHERWISE.

AS BOB DYLAN SAYS--

“TIME IS A JET PLANE, IT MOVES TOO FAST-

OH, BUT WHAT A SHAME, THAT ALL WE SHARED CAN'T LAST”

But as Fr. Kevin said, it does last, inside of each of us, forever.

I'VE SELECTED THE PRAYER I LOVE BY "ST THERESE (AVILA)  FOR ALL OF US AS WE REFLECT ON MOM'S LIFE, HER LEGACY:   I THINK CAPTURES WELL HOW MOM LIVED HER LIFE, AND WHAT SHE , IN ALL HER WISDOM, WAS SAYING TO ME ALL THOSE YEARS-.  I SHARE IT WITH YOU SO YOU CAN BE REMINDED OF HER.

Saint Therese's Prayer 



May today there be peace within. 



May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. 



May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. 



May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. 



May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. 

It is there for each and every one of us.    

 

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR JOINING US TODAY  5