Rev. Arthur C. Parker

He was the greatest priest. He really was. Juanita died way too early, and now he has joined her. He had such an important role in my formative years, and my memories of him will live forever. I will list a few now:

-Who else had a Harley riding, leather wearing priest?
-Using "Jesus Christ Superstar" for confirmation classes
-The obsession with moose!
-Getting drunk on the altar that memorable Christmas Eve
-The prosody, rhythm, and inflection of his saying of the mass. I am so thankful that I have one of these recorded, because he had such a poetic way of putting the words together
-Helping me with so many things--Paying for my first trip to Spain, college advice, and just for taking an active interest in my well being
-His beautiful partnership with Juanita--they truly were a pair
-The legendary temper
-The inclusion of people who would otherwise not be church goers; the incredible rise in Sunday morning attendance
-The hundreds of times I served on the altar with him. The funerals I served with him. That one funeral in particular.
-His liberalness
-My trips to Chicago to visit


There are many others as well. I will be flying up to New Hampshire for the funeral next week. Let light perpetual shine upon him.

Because I love making predictions, I will now say this, even though there are still 20 contestants left:

David Archuleta is the best contestant to ever appear on American Idol, and he will win this year's competition.

Should you not be an American Idol fan, I strongly suggest you look this kid up.

I want to write this to have it documented for posterity, but I don't feel like writing, and I haven't felt like writing.

Anyway, On Sunday Feb 3 (or was it Saturday Feb 2?)Barack Obama came to Wilmington, Delaware, and I was one of the 20,000 people who showed up at Rodney Square, downtown Wilmington, on that oh so beautiful of days. The crowd was amazingly diverse--young and old, black and white, gay and straight, and it was one of the largest collectives of people anyone can remember gathering in Wilmington. Barack spoke for about an hour, his typical stump speech, but seeing him in person was so much better than seeing him on TV. I got quite close and had a wonderful view of him. The secret service assassins were perched atop all of the nearby buildings, signaling the potential threat at hand, but Barack showed no concern, standing amidst this sea of people in a totally unsecure area in the center of a downtown square. To be part of that scene was a very moving experience, and I will always remember it. Maybe I'll get to do it again when he starts campaigning in Philly.

He went on to win the state of Delaware on Super Tuesday, one of his many victories that day, and started a long winning streak that still continues today.

In other news, I am lonely, I am stressed, and I think I may be developing an anaclitic depression.