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For the fainthearted . . .

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Monthly Archives: October 2013

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Odd topics

For the fainthearted . . .

If the first rule of success at work is to turn up, then the first rule of success in visiting in a nursing home is, presumably, to talk; something not always easy when the day is prematurely dark, rain is falling heavily and the man is not inclined toward conversation. Surely, Halloween offered some topic of interest. “Did you ever have a bonfire at Halloween?”

“No”. An answer probably not true in rural Ireland of the Twenties and Thirties, but it would not have been polite to have said so.…

I’ll meet you further on up the road

For the fainthearted . . .

On RTE’s Primetime,  Conor Cusack bravely described his battle with depression and urged those listening that there was a future, that keeping going would bring better times. For a moment, it seemed hard to imagine that someone who had enjoyed the happiness and the camaraderie of a successful hurling team would have found themselves in such a dark place, but, then, I have heard people say that they could not imagine how someone who experienced the closeness and companionship of church life could find themselves feeling depressed.

Conor Cusack’s words …

Sermon for All Saints’ Day

For the fainthearted . . .

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’ Matthew 5:4

The cassette tape is well worn, ‘Makem and Clancy Live’, recorded at the National Concert Hall in Dublin in 1983. It has been played many times; the songs have been a companion on many moments

The most beautiful of the songs is not even by an Irishman. ‘The Orchard’, is by a songwriter called Kevin Evans from Nova Scotia in Canada, but it is set in Dungarvan in Co Waterford.

The song is a very quiet, reflective piece. …

The other side of Indiana

For the fainthearted . . .

Trevor McDonald’s ITV programme reports on prison life in Indiana in the United States. It is the sort of feature that risks a stereotyping of United States life in the Midwest; as if life were uniform and unremarkable.

The town of Wabash, Indiana was the first electrically lighted city in the world.  With a population of 10,666 in 2010, it’s not the biggest of places, but has a century long history of industry. Being someone always fascinated by local histories, it was interesting to read the history page of the …

Say it now

For the fainthearted . . .

An autumn day twenty years ago and a funeral was about to leave a country church. The funeral director is understandably concerned at the fragility of the brother of the deceased, who has stepped forward to help carry the coffin down the aisle. The fragile sibling snaps at the black suited undertaker, “He was my brother and I would carry him on my back if I had to”.

It seemed a moment of deep sadness. The words showed a depth of feeling he had previously masked, expressing a grief but …

Having one’s chips

For the fainthearted . . .

Our son’s 23rd birthday – a bag filled with food from the Chinese takeaway – the smell of chips merging with the scent of turf smoke on a damp October evening. The neural network connects the aroma with long term memory. Chips went with special occasions.

An August evening outing to Charmouth, three or four cars filled with family members going to walk on the beach of the seaside town; an amble down the riverbank before reaching the sea. Chips in newspaper being the treat at the end of the …

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