Matt's Journal

To New Orleans this weekend to attend the memorial mass for my Aunt Marie. She lived a good, long life, and we saw quite a bit of their family while growing up. It was very satisfying to be there in “my” city, which I remember from childhood, and with my family.

Now I’m back at home with my own little empty-nester family, just the two of us, and after a good night of rest and a good breakfast and a walk to get the paper, I’m ready to write an entry into this journal. What shall we write about today? Let’s see. I think I’ll describe the shiny objects I packratted home from the trip.

There’s the Clarion Herald, the official news paper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. I got my copy from a table in the cathedral. I remember this publication from boyhood. It has a logo of the cathedral on the header, and articles about the Catholic schools (Brother Martin, where my father went, is in there), the new Stations of the Cross at St. Angela’s and a note about the closing of a Catholic school in Terrytown – declining enrollment. A litany we know all too well.

Then we have the NYT, surprisingly skinny, with its crossword of the day, mostly completed on the flight except for three letters that Laura filled in (SHE knew about “Beale Street” but not “durance vile”; she looked it up which is cheating). I like the NYT but will pass over the details here, but I did scan it thoroughly on the flights home.

There’s the Italian American Digest, “the Italian American Voice of the South” its header proclaims. I got that at Mother’s Restaurant after downing their early-bird special which costs me $10 including a generous tip – including a 2nd cup of their delicious and familiar coffee au lait. I took it because there’s an article in Italian that I wanted to try and read; I couldn’t make much out. The publisher is the American Italian Cultural Center which I passed many times going on S. Peters Street, from the motel to the French Quarter. They were closed every time, however. They teach Italian classes – well worth taking if you ever go there.

We have a pamphlet promoting the beatification of the noble Creole benefactress Henriette Delille. She was of the black gentry in New Orleans, and founded a religious order there to help the slaves. I think they should make her a saint. There is a mass card for my aunt, with a bit of doggerel on one side and a picture of Our Lady on the other. I think the funeral homes must choose these for you – they rarely correspond to the character and tastes of the deceased. My aunt donated her body to science, like my father, and I will do likewise.

Next there’s her obituary with her picture from when she was younger. I remember her well. As a child I was a little intimidated by her (I think I was often intimidated). Their nine kids and our seven interacted regularly with not-always-predictable results, but we survived nicely. So far.

There is a pile of paper boarding passes. They, like money, are going the way of the dinosaur. I used the phone on the way back, having no easy access to a printer and plus my brother wanted to eat lunch and that took precedence. Two restaurants in New Orleans wouldn’t take cash – I had to use electronic payment methods. I still like paper and carried the receipts from the trip plus the hotel reservation with me – I never needed them, but you never know.

We have a book “On Prayer” by the great theologian Karl Rahner (SJ). I read one chapter and put it away – too much for now.

There is a 1987 National Geographic. I got this at the library for a quarter. The in-depth articles were well-supplied with maps, and photographs. Haiti is still poor and corrupt; the history of Sulayman the Great of Turkey remains the same; New Mexico is still there. These old magazines are disposed of by the thousands.

Finally there’s a current issue of The Economist, which I pored over on the way back to California. The “briefing” section reviewed the housing shortage in rich countries and ways to fix it – good reading as I headed towards Los Angeles and home, where prices are sky-high and tent cities worthy of the third world abound.

That’s it. Most of this will be recycled and the rest will be donated to the library. Then we’ll start again!