Paul's Last Rites

My brother Paul’s wake was Wednesday and the funeral Thursday.

Thanks to the many friends who made the wake, the funeral, or who contacted us by phone, email, etc.

And a special thanks to the boat-mates of Paul, from his crew days at Cornell, who made the Wednesday evening wake.

Tony Johnson came from Ithaca.
Dewey Shea came from NYC.
Bob Tapscott came from Boston.

And Pat Hancock came from Poughkeepsie, and also attended the Thursday morning Mass of the Resurrection.

My family appreciated the efforts you made to honor Paul with your appearance.

And I learned a bit about how these crews actually function – which I never knew (Like the cox doesn’t sit at the back going “stroke, stroke”).

These four lads were all very athletic 6+ footers – looked like rugby #8’s! - and I had a few good laughs today thinking about my 5’3” (on his tall days) brother at the back of the skiff yapping away while they provided the grunt!

And also, John Donahue, Paul's friend from school with whom he was out of touch for 25 years. Not long ago, they were reunited when a mutual friend ran into our nephew Paul Faranda and within a month John flew from Connecticut to Texas for a happy visit. They remained in contact until Paul's death. John was at the funeral and wake, and shared some great memories.

So a terrible and painful few days, eased by the knowledge that Paul was loved and admired by many people.