May 4 Day 4
Sleep sucked. There’s 5000 reasons for it, all them valid, but it just plain sucked. The “highlight” – for lack of better word – was when I got tackled by my brother’s cat. Despite the fact that I was totally against him getting her, I gotta admit that she is a sweetie. Her name is Lucia, but I often call her “Baby Girl.” (We won’t get into what I call her twin brother.) As sweet as she is, she does not care. Someone brought his pit bull to our house – which was socialized, well-behaved, and everything you’d want in a dog – and Lucia went from “harmless human lover” to “that b**** gotta go” in three seconds flat. She’s not putting up with more animals in the house.
Admittedly… I just didn’t want to get up. Today is the second anniversary of my father’s death. For ten years – arguably what should have been my most productive – I was his caregiver. Dad had been through so much and yet kept going and going. It’s almost comical that it took a case of gross negligence to finally send him out of this world. That’s right. Sycamore Glen Rehabilitation Center in Miamisburg killed my father. He died from a bedsore he got at their facility and they virtually ignored it for three weeks. And the malpractice laws are written in such a way that in order to hold those accountable – just to punish them… not even to collect anything – I would need to have money to burn. It’s not worth all that when the best-case scenario is the damages being used to reimburse Medicare.
Fortunately, this is the digital age. I’ll settle for publicly fucking their reputation. It won’t bring my father back, but at least I can warn others not to entrust them with their loved ones. Consider yourself warned.
The only thing out of the ordinary for today was a jaunt down to the Church of the Resurrection in Cincinnati to accompany their 4 PM mass. The Church of the Resurrection came together in 2010 from four predominantly-African American Catholic parishes. I served at one of them (St. Andrew in Avondale) until its closing just before the merger. As I mentioned yesterday, they have a special place in my heart. It was where I first really learned what it is to do ministry (which is different than directing or even playing music). Every place I’ve served at since then has built on what I first picked up from that now-gone family church.
The 4 PM mass at the Church of the Resurrection is a completely different creature from the contemporary worship service at Mosaic Church (which is Methodist). For anyone not familiar with Catholic mass, there’s a basic structure with a music-centered “hit list” that often changes with the season and usually about 5 songs that get switched out week to week. During the service, the minister of music (or primary accompanist) has be very much on it and dialed in to what the participants do at all times. Let your mind wander and you’ve created an uncomfortable pause smack dab in the middle of the eucharistic prayer.
Am I exaggerating? Maybe…
That said, I’m very much looking forward to being back “home” for my crazy Sunday experience. Between the worship set, the band, and the message, I have a really good feeling about the services.
All the best,
TKP
5/4/2019