Saturday, 27 July 2013

July 19-23, 2013 - NY Memory Lane

We went to New York together: Marybeth, Huub and I. Mom had said she really wanted to visit Jimmy's grave, and he is buried on Long Island near First Prebyterian Church in Babylon, where the family lived when Marybeth was in highschool (PS 138, she'd say). Albert Leininger was pastor at the church from 1940 to 1970, and today a plaque hangs on the rear wall that reads "Preacher, Builder, Counselor with a consistent life." Mom was touched at how personal and apropos it was." [I wish I could paste the photo I took -- with the Samsung camera-tablet --- but I get the message "format incompatible"]. We met two couples in their 80's, the caretaker (also about that age), and two aldermen in their 50's. Rob Laing said he'd been baptized by Reverend Leininger, and Teufel (a little older) said he'd been confirmed by Opa. Teufel remembered Opa in one of his sermons bemoaning people preferring to mow their lawns on Sunday rather than come to church. "Let the weeds grow!" He'd said. "They're green , living things too!" That resonated with Teufel, a boy who disliked his garden chores.

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