I will not say these words are new, only that they are from my heart. Uncle Peter's warm and outgoing personality always put me at ease and while I can't say I remember details of what we spoke, I can remember vividly his willingness to engage me, as a young man in conversation and my relief to be able to talk so easily with one of my many uncles. I felt we connected and that was a big deal for me. I remember it as if it were yesterday.
As Michael Nolan said, this was a really great thing when you felt nervous amongst a sea of Nolans (which was also especially daunting for us out-of-towners). We never had much time in town to visit, so the opportunity to get to know one's relatives was extremely valuable. Uncle Peter's abilty to knock down the walls of distance and to ignite familiarity was awesome. Whenever I visited the Reehils, we had a great time that began with their bright smiles greeting us at the door. My brothers and I enjoyed teasing the girls and always felt so welcome.
My last visit to their home must have been in the 80's. It was this Nolan gathering there where I met an older Michael Nolan and we decided that we were both a little odd for this Nolan clan ("black sheep", if I remember Michael's exact terminology). In Peter's living room, a budding writer and an artist discussed our future endeavors. It helped bring us both closer together. Michael is now my daughter Erin's godfather. The Reehi!
ls home was always a wonderful place for the Nolans to come back together and I appreciate their boundless generousity.
Though the time has come for him to go home and the fragility of human life is again revealed, nothing will conquer my loving memories of Uncle Peter nor silence the prayers this night on his behalf. His memory will live within my heart forever as an example of how to be a happy person, as an example of courage but mostly as an example of how to love and be loved. I guess I can take some comfort in knowing that Uncle Peter will be waiting to welcome me Home one day with his wonderful smile. God bless him, let him laugh again and give him and his family peace through Your love this night and forever. Amen.
Showing posts with label Peter Reehil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Reehil. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Peter Reehil, RIP--December 2002
Dear Family and Friends,
The husband of my sister Joan, "Uncle" Peter Reehil, died at home today,
Friday, in West Islip, Long Island at 3 p.m. (the hour of Devine Mercy
as the Lord revealed to St. Faustina) in the bosom of his loving wife,
children and grandchildren, his pastor and his doctor. Older Catholics
among you will remember how we always prayed to St. Joseph for the grace
of a happy death. The act of dying may be difficult indeed, but which of
us does not think about and pray that our own time to leave this earth
might be like Peter's, at home in the company of the Lord and in the
arms of our dear ones?
Peter was terribly ill from cancer for some fifteen and more years. He
was a grand Catholic man, a Korean-era Army paratrooper, a retired
teacher, devoted husband and father of four splendid daughters. Growing
up just blocks away from my family, he was a local Queens Village,N.Y.
boy, attended the same parish church, same parish school as we Nolans,
and worked as a loan officer in a local bank while attending college on
the GI Bill. I remember him, his parents and extended family as far
back as the early 1950's. Always he called me Kenneth.
We loved talking
endlessly together whenever, on military leave or after retirement, we
visited their home. What I will always remember about Peter and be ever
grateful to him for were the many kindnesses he lavished upon my mother
in her declining years. My mother thought the world of Peter. He cared
for her in his home, took her to the doctor, etc. How often he wheeled
her a couple of blocks to mass at his parish of Our Lady of Lourdes. Do
I doubt that this very evening she has already thanked him in person,
welcomed him "home", and rejoiced with him as he was finally reuniting
with his own parents, Ruth and John? Not on your life! Because, as we
have been told:
"Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard the treasures our Father has stored
up for us in Heaven." Go in the peace of the Lord dear sweet brother!
Kenneth
The husband of my sister Joan, "Uncle" Peter Reehil, died at home today,
Friday, in West Islip, Long Island at 3 p.m. (the hour of Devine Mercy
as the Lord revealed to St. Faustina) in the bosom of his loving wife,
children and grandchildren, his pastor and his doctor. Older Catholics
among you will remember how we always prayed to St. Joseph for the grace
of a happy death. The act of dying may be difficult indeed, but which of
us does not think about and pray that our own time to leave this earth
might be like Peter's, at home in the company of the Lord and in the
arms of our dear ones?
Peter was terribly ill from cancer for some fifteen and more years. He
was a grand Catholic man, a Korean-era Army paratrooper, a retired
teacher, devoted husband and father of four splendid daughters. Growing
up just blocks away from my family, he was a local Queens Village,N.Y.
boy, attended the same parish church, same parish school as we Nolans,
and worked as a loan officer in a local bank while attending college on
the GI Bill. I remember him, his parents and extended family as far
back as the early 1950's. Always he called me Kenneth.
We loved talking
endlessly together whenever, on military leave or after retirement, we
visited their home. What I will always remember about Peter and be ever
grateful to him for were the many kindnesses he lavished upon my mother
in her declining years. My mother thought the world of Peter. He cared
for her in his home, took her to the doctor, etc. How often he wheeled
her a couple of blocks to mass at his parish of Our Lady of Lourdes. Do
I doubt that this very evening she has already thanked him in person,
welcomed him "home", and rejoiced with him as he was finally reuniting
with his own parents, Ruth and John? Not on your life! Because, as we
have been told:
"Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard the treasures our Father has stored
up for us in Heaven." Go in the peace of the Lord dear sweet brother!
Kenneth
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