Memory

A friend of mine died recently in Boulder, Colorado.  His name was Jim Carrigan.  Among other things he was a judge, a teacher, a great help to the parish where I was working for six years, and did many good things for the community.  Yet, the thing that sticks with me most about Jim, was Monday Night Football.  It may seem like a small inconsequental thing in the vast amount of good works Jim did, but it meant a lot to me.  I was still a fairly new priest and not yet 40.  Several men, including our pastor, would get together on many a Fall Monday for football.  The "Judge," and an economics professor at the university and several other men who I came to admire, would get together.  They would spend only a little time watching football and a lot of time talking about stuff of which I knew little but was eager to learn.  The Carrigan home was the one that I most remember.  Jim had such an easy friendly and inviting manner.  You never know what people will remember about you.  Be kind.  Be inviting.  Jim was a teacher too, of more than he might have been aware.  May he rest in peace.