I had the opportunity Thursday to visit Jim and Nancy, always most gracious, for lunch. Nancy's mother died recently and they have been busy with grieving and arrangements.
After catching up, they shared a letter they had found from Sharon McKenna, a real life hero in Tracy Kidder's new book Strength in What Remains.
Summary: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder returns with the extraordinary true story of Deo, a young man who arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. After surviving a civil war and genocide, he ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores until he begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing.
My book club recently read Kidder's first book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World (Random House Reader's Circle)
Jim and Nancy have known and worked with Thomas Merton, Thich Nhat Hanh, Dorothy Day and many others.
After a delicious lunch, Jim accompanied me to the local grocery store so I could successfully make my last purchases for the community meal at Noel Huis later that day. There is nothing like a visit with Jim and Nancy, gracious beyond measure, interesting, spiritual and truly educated people.
Some sites:
http://www.bus-idee.nl/TCT-Alkmaar-kaasdragers-VP.jpg
http://www.amsterdamevents.nl/files/Image/fotomateriaal/holland/Alkmaar.jpg
http://www.zomerhuisjesschoorl.nl/Foto%27s%20Peter%20en%20zo/alkmaar%20gracht2.jpg
Phil
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