GENROZT: a gracious act that creates a joyful ache every time it is remembered
Just as a tuning fork has two tynes, the virtue that resonates the most-wonderfully with GENROZT is gratitude.
Over 200 names appear in previous pages and I am grateful to each, from the students of Our Lady of Destiny to my four friends of chapter 11; from Kate Jacobs of the archives in Stratford to railroader Ralph Eisenbrandt; from Lt. Col. Steven Simon to USouthern Mississippi's Bob Pierce; from Alice Hayes to Dave Hilliard.
A singular subest of those are my seven brothers (try naming and numbering them, eh), my four sons, and my wife, Sheila Cawley. A glorious group are, of course, the five dozen who are no longer with us on this side of reality, but remain a vibrant part of it.
I want to especially celebrate folks whose names don't appear but whose participation was critical to my writing ... people like Gina Rothweiler and Kathleen Sison, parent-leaders who encouraged me to ask the Board to let our students participate. And the wonderful faculty members who helped students capture their memories, and school secretary, Phyllis Rotondo, who spearheaded the gathering, and the parents who signed off on their child's memory being included .... Salut!
Finally, I sing the praises of Mony Bunni and Peter M.M. Kahnert, the former my artist/designer, the latter my First Reader. It was son #2 Peter who, on the back porch last July, carefully cajoled me to do better. If I have, Peter called it.
Stephen M. Kahnert
October 2012
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