Vol. 1, No. 21

BILLIE WITH AUDREY KORLACKI AND THE QUILT
AUDREY MADE FOR STELLA MARIGOLD

Letter to My Granddaughter

Dear Little Stella,

Just before we came up to visit last October, I asked my friend Audrey if she would make a quilt for you.

Audrey Korlacki is a member of my YMCA exercise class. She is at least 85 years old and has vision problems, but she learned to make quilts and has made and given away more than 200 in all sizes. When I paid her for yours, she said it was the first time she had been paid for a quilt.

Audrey is a widow. She is Swedish and Finnish, but grew up in Minnesota, where she was on the swim team as a teenager. She came from a swimming family. Her father would swim across any lake he came to, and she and I discuss how much we have liked the water all our lives.

She lives in a senior retirement community and has three daughters who live nearby. Her small room has a Swiss sewing machine and many, many squares of material from which she fashions her craft.

When I asked her to make a quilt for you, I only said it was for a little girl, and I decided I would “like” it no matter what it looked like. I was so pleased to see one that is unique (like you).

I thought it would be nice for you to know some history about your quilt and the person who made it.

She gave me tips on washing. It has been washed once. When it is in the dryer, the lint filter should be checked several times to remove the stray threads that will be shed, and she said that will happen for the first 7 washings.

PawPaw and I hope you will like it and enjoy the picture of the lady named Audrey who made it.

Love, Nana

February 18, 2008


Dinner at Judith’s

When our friend Judith Fisher is not sailing the Seven Seas as a cruise ship doctor, or lecturing someplace in the world on emergency medicine, her specialty, she loves to entertain. On Friday, February 15, we were guests for dinner in her beautiful Walnut Creek home, along with Maureen Mancuso, a middle school teacher who is seminary trained and had once hoped to be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, and Maureen’s friend David, who designs restaurant kitchens.

Having been Judith’s guests before, we knew what to expect. She loves cooking, and she decorates her table like she was entertaining the Queen. There was china and silver, linen napkins and beautiful flowers. She allowed Billie to bring crab cakes for hors d’oeuvres, but Judith prepared everything else, including English trifle, which is my favorite dessert.

Just before we left our house, Judith called to remind us to bring Brandy, our Tibetan Spaniel. Brandy sleeps in the car when Billie and I go out to dinner, but not at Judith’s. Brandy pranced up the familiar flight of stairs and barked joyfully when Judith opened the door for us. I’m glad to report that on the whole Brandy was very well behaved. Highlight of the evening for her came when Judith took our little dog into the kitchen and gave her some of the pork tenderloin she had prepared for her guests.

Thank you, Judith, for a lovely dinner and for including our four-footed friend.


MOMS Update

I first wrote about Midwives on Missions of Service (MOMS) last July (Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 12). Deacon Chris McManus, who is with us at St. John’s, Clayton, and her partner, Deacon Trish Ross travel to Sierra Leone, the second poorest nation in the world, to train native birth attendants to become licensed midwives. They take considerable risks and share the primitive conditions of the people with whom they work in order to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. Infant mortality rates are 14.3% of live births (U.S. is .7%) Maternal mortality is 2% (U.S. is .09%)

Sierra Leone is on the coast in West Africa. It is about the size of South Carolina and has almost six million residents. Fewer than 150 of these are doctors. The U.N. workers left during a terrible civil war, which ended in 2002. They have not been back.

Between Sunday morning services on February 17, Chris and Trish gave us an update on their work before heading back to Sierra Leone. There was laughter and tears as they told their stories. I admire the two women and marvel at their stamina and willingness to serve.

Let me recount just one story that touched our hearts. A woman came to the village where Chris and Trish were at the time. Her baby was below birth weight and very weak. The mother had found nursing painful and frustrating and given it up. The father had left and she had no money. She had been feeding the baby warm water.

Our deacons assigned one of their birth attendants to stay with the woman, teach her how to breast feed, and see that she ate properly. The chief was asked to contact the father, which he did, and have him provide support for his family. The life of the baby was saved and the mother’s health improved.

For more information about MOMS, click on the following:

http://www.globalmidwives.org/

MOMS is staffed entirely by volunteers. Gifts for the work are deeply appreciated.


A Trip South

Heading south on I-5, ahead of a major storm in the Bay Area, we drove 412 miles to Costa Mesa. On the way, we stopped in Westwood to eat at Falafel King, a favorite of ours since the early 1970’s, when we were living in Santa Monica.

Shortly after checking in at the La Quinta Inn, Costa Mesa, the left rear turn signal on our PT Cruiser stopped working. The next morning, I drove to the nearby Orange Coast Dodge on Harbor Blvd. A friendly service consultant changed the bulb for me. Unbelievable as it seems, I was charged just $1.89—for the new bulb.

Jim and Freddie Schrider are old friends from our time at St. A’s in Santa Monica. Their son Tommy, a former acolyte of mine, was starring in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at the South Coast Repertory Theatre. We couldn’t miss a reunion with the Schriders, who now live in D.C., and a chance to see Tommy on the stage.

We got together in the Schriders’ room at the Wyndham Hotel, across the street from the theatre. What fun it was. Tommy is tall and handsome, the very picture of a matinee idol. He is charming. Tommy had to leave for the matinee performance, but he agreed to meet all of us for dinner at Savannah Supper Club and Lounge before the performance.

Tommy and his wife live in New York City. He received his MFA from New York University and has a number of New York Theatre credits. He also performs in regional theatres, winning praise for playing Hamlet at the Syracuse Stage. Billie and I thought he gave an outstanding performance as Jack Worthington in Earnest. After the show, we were invited backstage to meet the cast. They all looked so young! Their energy and enthusiasm was contagious.

The next day, Mark and Sanae drove down from Lakewood. We had a good visit and lunched with them at Wolfgang Puck. In the evening, we watched the Academy Awards in our motel room.

On Monday we drove to Sherman Oaks to visit an old RAND friend, May Cohen. She prepared luncheon for us, and we had a delightful time. In the afternoon, we drove to Riverside, hoping to have dinner with Billie’s sister. However, Marian wasn’t well, so we checked in at the La Quinta in San Bernardino. The next morning, Billie spent an hour or so with Marian, who wasn’t feeling any better, and we headed home to Concord.

We also skipped a favorite stop to visit Justine and Harold Cameron in Los Osos. They were suffering from the flu, their third bout since Christmas. Brandy and their dog, Abbi have a great time running inside and out, and we like to visit their favorite Italian restaurant, which serves food that reminds us of our Little Italy days in Boston.

We arrived home in time to watch the last Democratic presidential debate.


Back in the Saddle Again

On Saturday, March 8, I gave the keynote address at a Capital Funds Program at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The meeting was designed to meet the expressed needs of parishes anticipating capital campaigns. Two other presenters were representatives of The Episcopal Church Foundation in New York.

The biggest laugh came from my asking the clergy and lay leaders in attendance, “Do you know what a retired priest and an old shoe have in common? The last thing to wear out is the tongue!” I spoke for 50 minutes, giving my “5 Keys for a Successful Capital Funds Program,” and then answered questions for about 20 minutes. It was great fun.

Richard Scaper, Gift Planning Officer for the Diocese sent this note: Wow! Everyone went home saying, “Who has been keeping Fred Fenton under wraps?!!” You were the source of energy that propelled the day. Thank you for inspiring us!

In the afternoon, Billie and I took our granddaughter Perry to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre at Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. We had great seats, and the dancers were magnificent. Our favorite ballet was Mr. Ailey’s best known work “Revelations,” which interprets American spirituals. My personal favorites were “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?,” “Wade in the Water,” “I Wanna Be Ready,” and the boisterous finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”

After the show, we took Perry and her mom to dinner, celebrating with a bottle of Merlot and an Italian meal.


End of A Long Wait

At church the next morning, we learned the Vestry elected a new rector the day before. We won’t know who was chosen until a letter of agreement (contract) is signed and the announcement can be made. The interim period of nearly 2 years has been much too long for many of us at St. John’s, Clayton. We are looking forward to the arrival of a new rector sometime after Easter.

Speaking of Easter, it falls on March 23 this year. That is the earliest date in our lifetime. The next time Easter falls this early will be the year 2228, 220 years from now.