Tag Archives: Fr. Cap

My College Days

were about freedom and learning about life and art and history. Also my majors, Soc and Psyc. Yes, I was forced to take religion, math and science. My advisor, former head of the Sociology department, is still in touch.

Of course I hung out with my wing mates, the gals of 3W. Also knew the guys on 3N, Bacchus and the Swamp, the leader of which is still in touch as well.

W called me twelve years ago. He said he’d been looking for me for 20 years, to see how I’m doing and tell me about his family. He found me online because of a tech conference and called. I thought it was my boyfriend/now husband who was out of town playing a joke on me.

We met him a few years ago for lunch in NYC. I’ve been in touch with some of my wing mates as well in the last year or so. It’s “life event” time, kids marrying, parents dying.

The drug story will have to wait. OK. Here ’tis. After graduation I was visiting at a party next door to major campus dealers, I knew one. They gave me $10-20 to get a small amount of pot. I’ve never done drugs nor will I ever unless a doctor prescribes it for end-stage cancer. I went over there. They sat me down and did an intervention for 1/2 hour. They said you cooked for us once. Do not ever take drugs. Blah blah blah. I told him I was set up, I didn’t do drugs, would never do so and I’m glad you liked my chicken.

There are too many stories to tell now so permit me to tell you how we often ended a weekend evening. Circle, arms around each other and singing something about going home with the armadillo. I now know it as a Texas standout song from Jerry Jeff Walker, and have even visited Gruene Hall where he sang it, called London Homesick Blues.

And I substantiate the rumor that the English sense of humor is drier than the Texas sand. We all hugged in a circle and kicked our legs for that seven minute song.

That, W, is something I’ll always remember. Dee

Surprise!

I graduated from college thirty years ago. For 34 years I have known a man, my advisor and department head and inspirational professor. Out of the blue, today he called to wish me a happy thanksgiving. No he didn’t ask for a gift to the annual fund! Fr. Cap is definitely my favorite priest. I wanted him to marry us but the whole Catholic thing (my husband is not Catholic) got in the way. Plus we eloped, with four days notice and he was 3,000 miles away.

He’s been ill of late but is in good spirits and doing much better, helping out in the campus church and elsewhere. It is so good to hear from old friends and mentors over the holidays. I don’t go back for reunions, I just told him I’m not much for seeing who aged better, who got a tummy tuck, whatever. I’d rather just go quietly and see the people who meant something to me during those formative years. I nearly forgot that my desire for internal “beauty” is much stronger than that for a pretty external shell and that is probably a direct result of his teachings. Yes, the infamous “Barbie” lecture that mesmerized students for decades. It was his trademark and rightly so.

After teaching us dumb kids all year, he’d go out west and help at the Hopi reservation. Atop a room full of bookshelves was an array of papooses, a funny thing for a Catholic priest to have on display.

There are so many people I am thankful to have in my life this Thanksgiving, and I just got a call from one of them. God bless you, Fr. Cap. Cheers, Dee