Up River Cemetery

Those of you who follow my postings on a regular basis know that I sometime get a little behind. Sometimes that is due to the busyness of life and try as I might, I just don’t have time to sit down and process photos or write the little stories that go with them. The recent radio silence is not so much because of the busyness of life but rather because I’m not sure what to write and I’m having a hard time with it.

My cousin passed away on Saturday evening. Technically, he was my first cousin, once removed (my mom’s first cousin). It wasn’t completely unexpected. He had been poorly off and on for quite a little while. Still, it isn’t easy when the time actually comes. It’s harder still when it is someone you admire and respect. Clinton was a kind and gentle man, well liked by acquaintances, well loved by those who knew him. He will be missed.

That’s all I have to say here.

Nate, Hannah, Dorothy, Sara, Anna, Shelly, Suzy, Miranda, Barry, Katie, and Henry

All that was left for us to do this morning was have some breakfast, pack up, and clean our housing site. Once that was done, the group posed for a few team pictures, including this one that includes me (there was a handily placed wall where I set the camera). It was a privilege to work with this team and I’m extremely proud of all of them for the effort them put in this week. It is true that in the larger scheme of things, we didn’t do a very significant amount. On the other hand, I think we all came away with a little better understanding of some the needs in a city like Philadelphia. Thank you, Miranda and CSM, for putting up with us, including our silliness and sarcasm.

Prepared to Serve at Manna

We started the day at the camp again, as we did each day this week. We had lunch quickly and then left to go to Manna, a non-profit organization that cooks and delivers nutritious, medically-appropriate meals and provides nutrition counseling to neighbors who are battling life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, renal disease and HIV/AIDS. The team packaged over 1,000 meals as well as putting together English muffin sandwiches and various other tasks. I don’t know the name of the woman on the right, but our team is (from left to right): Suzy, Anna, Shelly, Katie, Sara, Hannah, Dorothy, (and in front) Barry and Nate.

An Evening Off in Philadelphia

In the evening, we had a little free time. We went to a little pizza parlor in downtown Philly and enjoyed fresh pizza while watching that last 20 minutes of so of the Argentina vs. Netherlands soccer match. Unfortunately, neither team was able to win, so they flipped a coin and it went to Argentina.

After dinner we went to a miniature golf course in Franklin Square. Here, part of our team poses on a replica of the famous Philadelphia LOVE sculpture in the golf course. From the left, Hannah, Dorothy, Anna, Suzy, and Katie at the bottom.

Anna and Shelly with Water Balloons

I took more pictures today than yesterday but didn’t get a lot that I was happy with. I was also distracted by a fall that I took while playing with the third graders at camp this morning. It hurt a bit, but I didn’t think much of it until about two hours later when I noticed a bit of blood in my eye. Since it was similar to what happened after my first cataract surgery, five years ago, I knew what it was immediately. I didn’t do much the rest of the day, taking a few pictures but mostly just sitting while the others worked.

Our afternoon was spent at a Salvation Army site, doing odd jobs. They included organizing a few storage rooms, which needed it pretty badly, as well as filling this small wheel barrow with water balloons for an upcoming event.

Cooking Burgers and Dogs

Each morning in Philadelphia we worked at a summer camp for little kids (across the river in Camden, actually). Each afternoon we had a different opportunity to serve in the city. Today we visited the Mary Jane Home Enrichment Center, run by Mrs. Williams. She had us set up a grill and table from which we served hamburgers, hot dogs, and sausages to anyone who wanted them. I enjoyed chatting with a few local men who stopped by for a meal.

In this picture, Nate took over the grill for a little while (so I cold take pictures). Shelly was in charge of getting buns ready and passed on to the others, who served them to our visitors. It doesn’t look too busy, but it got going shortly after this was taken. We fixed about 40 burgers and at least that many dogs and sausages, putting some chicken on at the end, because there were still people there asking for food.