bill sent me an e-mail yesterday at work that brother bennett, a well-loved teacher at st. ed’s, where matt and mark went to high school, died recently. brother bennett taught history at ed’s. he was past the age where most teachers retire, well into his 70’s when matt and mark had him. the boys loved him. matt had him in 9th grade, would come home everyday with a story. brother graded with an unusual scale. i remember that the highest grade was a “humdinger.” can’t remember the others.
st. ed’s is one of those high-profile all-boys catholic high schools in the area. a very good school. serious academics. a “blue-ribbon school” (an award given out by u.s. dept. of education, i believe) while the boys were there. one of 2 schools in the state that was awarded the highest medal for their literary magazine the year the guys graduated (ahem. matt was editor in chief, btw). very serious athletics. it’s highly unusual when ed’s does NOT win the state championship in wrestling. hockey, football, basketball, baseball. none of them too shabby. there are already several of the boys my guys graduated with who are in the nfl, nba, nhl (an ed’s grad scored the game-winning goal in the stanley cup last year). the point is: this is an highly testosterone-charged school.
brother bennett was one of many gifted and giving teachers at ed’s. however, they taught the boys so much more than they could learn on the football field or ice. they created a “safe” place for them to experience what it was like to be real men (if they had it in them to see that). i remember matt coming home from school and telling me that there had been a school assembly to honor brother bennett because he had received an award from the local newspaper. matt said that the clapping started very slowly and built to a thundering, hooting, standing ovation. he said there were lots of tears.
thank you, brother bennett. god bless you.
related, kind of.
i was talking to a dear friend of mine this morning who was feeling REALLY bad about herself. worthless. unworthy. all this because she had read jax’s blog entry this morning.
got me thinking about stuff. this is what i think.
the most “worthless” person can change another person’s life in the blink of an eye. those addicts who gave and gave and continue to give to jax when his “bank” was completely empty. overdrawn even. i love dickens’ “a christmas carol.” i love what it teaches us – that as long as you’re alive you can live a life worth living. if you choose it. we ALL have problems (i know some are bigger than others), we’ve ALL made mistakes. big deal. you live, you fuck up. ok. deal with it. check yourself. correct your course. it’s all new again. next.
whenever i associate with someone, may i think myself the lowest among all and hold the other supreme in the depth of my heart!...
when i see beings of wicked natures, pressed by violent sin and affliction, may i hold these rare ones dear as if i had found a precious treasure!...
when others, out of envy, treat me badly with abuse, slander and the like, may i suffer the defeat and offer the victory to others!...
when the one, whom i have benefited with great hope, hurts me very badly, may i behold him as my supreme guru!
in short may i, directly and indirectly, offer benefit and happiness to all beings; may i secretly take upone myself the harm and suffereing of all beings!...
Great entry. You are so right. And so are you, Mark.
Posted by: TW at December 2, 2003 12:38 PMI worked lunch times giving 'extra' English lessons in a Catholic school for two years. I met some incredible people who really 'live' their faith.
You must be so proud of Jackson.
That last paragraph was soooo beautiful Stacey. Even though we know it.... it is always great to have a reminder, to jolt us back into reality. Thanks for that.
Posted by: Michelle at December 3, 2003 09:53 AMhttp://www.sehs.net/development/brother_b_POSTED_results.htm
Posted by: mark at December 5, 2003 08:28 PMThat last paragraph is awesome.
Posted by: matt at December 5, 2003 11:52 PM