Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Celebrating a half century

I meant to spend last year celebrating my fiftieth birthday. That was the plan and then the plan was upset because quite a few people I knew and loved died last year. I've decided to be pigheaded and celebrate it this year.

Most of what I will post under this heading, will be about what did and did not change. Here is something that has changed: When I was a boy, there were hotels and clubs in downtown Montreal where you'd find a black man working in the washroom. His job was to stand there and hand you a towel when you finished washing your hands. There were other parts of the job too—although they probably didn't come with a lot of dignity either—but most of what he did was to stand there and hand towels to you.

It's Saint Agnes' Eve tonight, (I'm going to do one of these posts on the feast day of a saint every month.)

1 comment:

  1. Giles, thank you for taking the time to write these reflections. I love your 'pig-headed' attitude (although I doubt it's actually pig-headed), and the graciousness in these posts. I really look forward to reading more. (And to learning about the saints, of which I am pretty ignorant.)

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