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| Letter received June 4, 2014 via email from Father Hattie. |
Above is a letter I recently received from Fr. Hattie. I took the liberty of using software to give the paper a bluish-green tinge to hearken back to the days of his airmail special stationary.
As you may recall, Father literally uses a manual typewriter to compose his letters. The typewritten letter is then scanned and saved as a jpeg file (i.e., picture/image). As you can see from image above, the impressions of the typewritten letters vary in intensity, hence distortion and blurring resulted when I tried to "enhance" the image to make it more readable.
Below is my transcription of the letter (for your convenience). I have taken the liberty to "clarify" some of the words that are not clear in the typewritten original. If I goofed, I apologize.
You can reach Father via email at: EHattie@Ymail.com. I think you couldn't go wrong in corresponding with him.
See my "Father Hattie" page for more contact info, including where to send a donation for the orphans at Nsumbi Orphanage in Uganda (Africa).
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Dear Rick: Peace of the Risen Lord!
Before the loving & joyful Easter Season begins to slowly ooze away, I just have to thank you most sincerely for your latest and kind & very generous Gift of $xx.xx for my kids because it will help the Sisters a lot to take care of the orphans, and taking care of so many is not [a] bowl of strawberries and cream. You're great!
Last night about midnight, another of our Jesuits went to the Lord. He came here just about 2 months ago & had been sick for just about a week, so he went quickly. A 'mistake' I made sometime ago was to push his wheelchair from the 5th Floor to his room on the 4th & that 'cooked his goose'...after that he wouldn't allow anyone to push him except me. On several occasions, when others offered to push him some[where], he would say, 'No, go get Father, for he is the only one who is able to push me properly.' So, you see what I mean when I say that I got 'stuck'. When he came here, his mind was quite clear, but he quickly became like a child. He was a brilliant guy with a PhD from Oxford, England and knew 6 Biblical languages, but here no one would have suspected it. While he was dying, he often became quite agitated, but all I had to say was, 'Don't worry. I'm here with you', and he would drift off to sleep again. R.I.P. We never know the day or the hour.
Toward the end of July, I'll be taking off for Canton to celebrate my 92nd Birthday & that will mean a crowd. My sister had [7?] kids & now the grandkids & great-grandkids number about 40. I told her that she must use name tags this year because I don't know most of their names. Wish me luck. I'm lucky in this that, at 92 I am one of the healthiest in the Community. I walk about 2-1/2 miles each day and do 20 minutes on the standered [stationary?] bicycle. Many in their late 70s are suffering from dementia & are in wheelchairs....Please give my regards & love to your wonderful Mom when you talk to her. She, too, is a great gal.
Be sure that you have a super-special remembrance in my daily Mass & prayers as I ask the good Lord to fill you to the brim & flowing over with His & Her choicest gifts, Graces, & blessings. Keep smiling (there is too little in the world, and things could be far worse) & spreading His & Her peace, love & joy all over W. Hartford. Till next time,
Tons of love & gratitude,
Fr. Gene, SJ
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Notes:
The fellow priest that died is apparently Fr. Frank (Francis) T. Gignac, SJ. His obituary was published on the Jesuit website. Worth check out...very interesting. Father Hattie's description of him is spot on.
Fr. Hattie's birthday is July 18th. A brief biography can be found in my entry from his 90th birthday. He would probably appreciate receiving a birthday card and note of cheer from you.
Links:
http://www.jesuits-chgdet.org/news-detail?TN=NEWS-20140604105947
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/08/father-hattie.html
Written Saturday 28 June 2014