Dad Post #1

I'm sitting here watching the NBA Finals Game 4 with my Dad, and thinking about basketball. Ever since I got into it, Dad has always been a fan. High school basketball is what really pumped him up. Volunteering for the Top 28 for four years, he's done more for high school basketball than most. I remember he would always tell me the scoop of the teams in the Sunkist Shootout, as if I cared as much as he did. He would tell me what his work schedule was, what games he would be able to see, what teams were a can't miss, and why he chose to be team host of a certain team. He would love to tell me about the types of food in the Coach's lounge, what other coaches were saying, and tell me about the different teams. He always fantasized about going to the late-night coaches party at the Hilton, but never decided to. He-he. Out of his league.

One of my best childhood memories as a kid was going to the UL basketball games with Dad, especially the Saturday night ones, and getting to go to Taco Bell afterwards. From Dad, "I remember you would always ask for the $3 Nachos at the game, and I would say, 'If you don't buy those nachos, I'll take you to Taco Bell after,'" and I would always accept the deal. What he didn't realize was that I would buy way more than $3 worth of food when we would go there.

It's really sad to see Dad leaving our family, he's been such a critical member. He's financially held us together, through working about 50 hours per week at Wal-Mart as a pharmacist both in New Iberia and as a manager in Abbeville. He was such a hard worker from an older generation. He was also the driver on all our family vacations, which were more numerous to mention. He always had this practicality to him, a man who valued hard work, conservative stances, and keeping the lawn mowed and the cars cleaned. He was always the person I put down as my "emergency contact" for any form needing filling, since his cool and calm demeanor I knew would always pull through. There were certain things that I called on him for, he was my man. Directions, recipe for Gumbo, practical questions (like stuff about moving, which job to get for the summer etc), but most importantly, I knew I could always count on him to go above and beyond to help me out. He was the type that would not consider it insane to get off work at 7pm, drive up to New Orleans to bring me something that I really needed, and then drive back, you know, because he had work the next day. There were countless offers to do these type of ridiculous things for me, and that was just the man he was. A man of actions. A man of simple pleasures (like his daily reading and Cup of Joe at CeCe's, snowcones while he was sick, or the subway sandwich he always got). He always helped me move each year from the dormitories, and made sure I had everything I needed when I was in town from college.

I think Dad just loved his kids and his family more than anything else. And that's why he didn't care what he was asked, he just wanted to help any way he could. It's like he really had nothing else going on. Any time I asked him a favor, he could do it. Any time I needed something annoying done, like taking something to the bank for me, it was Dad that I asked. His presence will certainly be missed in this family.

Conversation Tonight

Tonight, I watched the end of the Hornets season at the New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood joint that's literally 2 blocks from my house. I love that place--new, high ceilings, nice, no smoking, huge TVs, and a really nice bartender (Gerald). I ended up spending most of the night talking to a new friend Frank. Frank has been married twice, divorced twice, and is a little cynical (in his own words). He viewed marriage as a "partnership" and did it "because it's the best way to have kids". He also believed that women wanted to have kids and once they "got theirs", then they were done with you (as a man). I then asked him if religion ever played a part in any of his marriages, and he said no, and he went on to say why the Catholic Church was so terrible. Luckily, everything he said about the Catholic Church was not what I believed about the CC, so it ended up good.

What struck me about the conversation was how cynical he was about marriage. He was like, "I lived with this person for 26 years, and that's pretty darn good. There's no way you can live with someone forever." I just really don't like to believe that. Man, I want to live with someone forever. That conversation truly made me believe that the only way marriage can exist is if God is in it--and by "God is in it", I think I mean the SACRAMENT of marriage. Marriage is way more than a simple "partnership"; Geez. It just makes me sad for society in general. They're all looking for happiness, and no one can find it. I'm glad I'm going to be a doctor.

Aunt Susan

Dear Aunt Susan and Uncle Wendell,

Thank you so much for the kindness and generosity that you showed my family over the past six weeks. In Mt 25, Jesus says, "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me", and I know that my family is probably not "the least" that Jesus is talking about, but we were at a low point in our family history. Thank you for stepping up and helping us out in this hard time by giving us a place to stay.

Any time you are in New Orleans, please let me know, I would love to see y'all. And Uncle Wendell, my friend Rich and I will be going to Big Bend National Park this summer. We're taking your suggestion. If your friend has any suggestions for while we're there, it would be much appreciated. Thanks again. Love you. - Greg F.

Thoughts from this weekend

3 things:

1) An analogy I came up with relating to the Protestant/Catholic thing - the reason I have so much trouble at these Protestant Bible studies is because it's like the smartest kid in class getting tutoring by someone who has a C in the class. As long as the kid with the C is saying stuff that the Honors student agrees with, all is fine. But as soon as there's some question, or a discrepancy, the honors student just can't trust the guy with a C telling him how it is; he has to go to the professor. That's the difference for me between Protestantism and Catholicism. I just don't trust what these Protestant people are telling me. Why? Because I know they don't know - it's just what they think. They haven't tapped into the 2,000 years of history of biblical scholarship to get to their interpretation like Catholic thinkers and theologians have.

2) I came to realize that in judging a person or life in general, it's not what a person values that's the most critical component, but it's the order of what the person values that really separates things. For example, let's take a sports team. Everyone on the sports team cares about the team and wants the team to win. But some players may have their priorities like this: 1) me first 2) team winning second, while others: 1) team winning 2) any stats that have to do with me. That's a very critical difference. Both players came about the team winning - it's just in a different order and that makes all the difference. I can liken that to certain people going to Church vs not going to Church, or going out of their way to help others vs not - down to what career choice in medicine you choose.

3) I was thinking about why Bill Simmons was such a great writer, and about why I check ESPN.com about 10x a day to see if he's written a new column. What is it that drew me in in the first place, and what keeps me there? To be simple, there's 2 factors: he's hilarious and he's insightful/eloquent/passionate. When I think back on BS, it was really his humor that drew me in in the first place. If the guy wasn't funny but he was really insightful and stuff, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten into him. Just not worth it. But the fact that his writing was so hilarious drew me in, and his passion/care/insightfulness is what kept me there. If someone is just funny and has no insight, then he's not worth my time either. All this to say about me and girls. I just have to be true to myself and stop trying to force the whole caring/nice/insightful thing and just be more laid back and funny and try not to take myself so seriously. Once that brings them in ("someone I want to hang out with"), then my care/insightfulness/eloquence just might keep them invested in me. Just a thought.

OI Director Speech

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to tell you a little bit more about myself so you have an idea of who you're voting for if you do decide to vote for me. I'm from Lafayette, LA and went to Loyola University New Orleans for my undergraduate degree. At Loyola, in addition to other extracurriculars, I served as the President of the College of Business for the SGA and director of student programs that came out of the Jesuit center, our spirituality center on campus. After getting accepted to medical school in the Spring of 2009, I requested a deferment year to work at a homeless clinic in Boise, ID where I worked on our Healthcare for the Homeless grant, a grant that provided healthcare to the homeless population in southwest Idaho. To be more specific, I updated the protocols, managed the forms and paperwork, and screened/aided individuals to get signed up for the program. I also helped patients through the entire social security application process - from the initial stage all the way up to setting them up with lawyers in the appeal process.

Although I had been to Belize and Jamaica on service programs in college, it was that year in Boise that really touched me and motivated me to get more involved with the homeless population on a medical basis. That year was a very powerful year for me, and it really changed my life. The reason I'm running for clinic director is that I want to facilitate the involvement of medical students in the lives and healthcare of the homeless population in New Orleans. I see this very unique demographic of persons in our society as some of the most vulnerable, who may have been ostracized from their families, might be suffering from any number of mental illnesses, and who are simply looking for respect and dignity.

I am very excited about the direction that our clinics are headed, and I am looking forward to improving on some of the issues that our clinics faced last year.

For example, I really want to maintain and better integrate the coordination between other healthcare social service agencies and our clinics. With the establishment of Healthcare for the Homeless as a referral source, the wait times for a new patient appointment for anyone who gets referred has been dramatically decreased. I think that by working with other social services pertaining to health, we can improve our patient outcomes.

More importantly, I want to refocus our volunteers on two of the points on our mission statement: that is, to serve and to learn. I truly believe that this is the real value of the work we are doing here. I hope that every volunteer learns more about him or her self through encountering an individual who did not have the same breaks in life. To accomplish this goal, I hope to bring in speakers once or twice a semester who can teach us all more about the unique struggles and challenges a person in a homeless situation faces--socially, economically, personally--and how that might apply to a medical/clinical setting.

In this manner, I am hoping that people can have a more thoughtful and transformative experience while working with our clinics. I have spoken with Laura and members of our student government association to prepare me for this position, and I'm ready to work with our amazing new staff to continue to improve our clinics. I am open to new ideas, new faces, and new challenges, and I look forward to serving all of you as the Ozanam Inn homeless director.