MY PRIESTLY COLLEAGUE AND CLASSMATE FROM KILKENNY - FATHER OLIVER MAHER ARRIVES TODAY ON HIS LATEST VISIT FOR 9 DAYS...........

Joe McNamara's return late Tuesday afternoon to take up his second night of being my overnight caregiver was as prolific as had been his arrival to take up those duties on Monday evening.  The dinner he brought with him and finished preparing to serve ourselves and Fr. Pius for dinner, was a generous portion of his wife Deborah's excellent homemade French Onion Soup, with Melted Cheese Croutons.  More of Joe's homemade deserts followed.  Our dinner conversation was a dynamic, more than three hour, dialogue about the Church, and also World Politics.  The headline news of this morning is the death of Hollywood legend, actress Elizabeth Taylor.  What struck me immediately upon the News 10 report of her passing, is how quietly it occurred, and without the customary fanfare that surrounded her for the past seven decades.  On a much more set of cogent notes for me, today brings my celebration of the 8 a.m. Mass here at OLOL; an 11 a.m. appointment with my Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. James Cookson, and I will learn more about the placement of the temporary pilon and permanent prostheses for my right foot and below the knee amputation.  Then I will take a chauffered limousine to San Francisco International Airport to greet and retrieve my St. Kieran's Seminary classmate and priestly colleague from Kilkenny, Ireland - Reverend Father Oliver Maher.  He is coming not only to visit me at this crucial junction in my healthcare, but as he has done on three previous similar occurrences over the past nine years, assist fully in being one of my primary caregivers.  For the next nine days and nights, he will be my caregiver, as well as provide companionship, as my cherished colleague.  And as has been true for the nearly three decades we have been friends, he comes with the full support, prayers, and solidarity, of our mutual Irish circle of friends, we proudly, collectively, call, "The Usual Suspects".  As I continue my convalescence and forward progress to the adaptation and transition of my amputation and prostheses, I am grateful to all my faithful and loyal family members, friends, fraternity brothers, colleagues, parishioners, caregivers, and assistance providers.  I am truly blessed to have each one you, and your prayers and presence, are a big reason I am so blessed...........Blessed Be God Forever !!!!!!!!!!!,   Fr.  Troy