Kidnapped(?)

I received the letter below from Fr. Gene Hattie on February 16th via email.

Letter from Fr. Hattie received via email February 16, 2015 (Monday).

See my Fr. Hattie page for more information on how to communicate with Father and how to donate to help his orphans in Nsumba, Uganda.

Below is my transcription of the letter above. I have taken the liberty of trying to add some color to the background of the above letter in order to attempt to recapture the atmosphere of the Aerogram stationary that Father used to use when he was in Uganda. I have also tried to "correct" any obvious types and/or light keystrokes. Father uses a manual typewriter  to write his letters. Then someone scans the letter to a JPEG file and sends via email. I have tried to maintain the overall text of the letter in the spirit of the original intended meaning (I hope). Let me know if you spot any of my errors.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My dear Rick:      Peace of Christ!

     Since we are completely snowed in and the weather is -2, there is nothing better to do than write letters since swimming is out of the question. And, who better to thank than yourself for your latest lovely & generous Gift of $XX.00 for the kids.  I didn't do so well for the 1st half of February, but there is always hope. My Christmas Cards & picture of some of the orphans didn't pan out too well, but maybe I can think of another 'trick' to draw former donors back into the 'Fold'. ...And, now back down on those chubby knees to get me a MAMMOTH miracle. Several days ago I just learned that Ssali Denis, my 'son' is being held illegally in the United Arab Emirates like a slave and, the 2 culprits are taking advantage of the fact that he hasn't a penny to his name. He can skype me only when someone allows him to use their computer or Cell Phone. The poor guy is panicky and I fear greatly that he will try to commit suicide.

     The 2 Muslims (1 in Uganda) (the other in the UAE) are working together (the former as a supposed friend) to terrorize him. They want him to work there against his will and he knows not a single word of their language. He can't get to Mass as the Parish is too far away & he has no idea of where the Ugandan embassy is.

     I have [been] waiting all day long for him to skype me so that I can give him a few instructions, but no luck so far. If he can contact the American Embassy, his life will be saved and he can return home and be happy once again.

     I, myself, am a nervous wreck over the affair and can't sleep. Constant new ideas keep coming into my mind [but], if they find out that he is skyping me, they will stop it. So, please say an immediate prayer that he will contact me soon, for the info that I have for him will be invaluable...& especially, out of despair, he won't end his life, for he has already tried 3 times.

    Be sure that your kids and family, your Mom and hers have a special remembrance in my daily Mass & prayers.

Tons of love & gratitude,                                                 

Fr. Gene, S.J.                                                         

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Links:

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html

http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Uganda

http://www.aerogramme.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG

Written Sunday 31 May 2015

A Visit(?) From Judy

Tuesday was the anniversary of the birthday of my late mother-in-law, Judy. She would've been 70.

That morning, I experienced a contact from beyond.... or a very ironic coincidence. I was in Elmira, NY for business. As I walked back into the hotel after brushing the snow off my (rental) car, I was startled to see an odd vanity license plate on a car parked next next to the main entrance. If it had not snowed overnight, I would have walked out the door and never noticed it. But there it was, a license plate that spelled out "JUDY" (see picture below). Happy Birthday Judy, thanks for dropping by.

A "visit" from Judy on her birthday.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Written Sunday 8 February 2015

Happy Birthday Carol

Me, Mom, Carol (the Birthday Girl).

I was lucky to be in Clevo the morning of my sister Carol's birthday. I had planned to be visiting our Clevo office but due to a big snowstorm my contact decided to work from home. So I did too. This meant that I got to see Carol when she popped in before heading off to get her driver's license renewed. So we played around with my Mom's iPad a tired a few "selfies" and the one above turned out to be one of the best.

Not only was Carol born in February like me but she is the first born of the second half (and I am first in the first half and overall) of the kids in our family.

February 2nd is also Groundhog Day. Don't know if it saw its shadow.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day

Written Sunday 8 February 2015