January 22, 2008
Tuesday
This site gets a steady stream of fifty or so visitors a day, even when I don’t post anything new for several days in a row. Over the last forty-eight hours I noticed increased traffic to There Is Still A Light That Shines On Me, the piece I wrote just about a year ago about the discussions concerning the future of Bishop McDevitt High School. What, I wondered, was leading people to seek this particular essay out?
The answer came in this morning’s paper. “Officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg have narrowed the site options for a new Bishop McDevitt High School to three, but they’re not saying where those sites are. One diocesan official also said renovating the existing school, which has been a fixture on Market Street since the 1930s, is still being considered.”
Uh-huh. Sure it is.
The bishop said it is “too early in the process to reveal the sensitive information,” but the decision could be made within two months.
Readers of this space know I am in a bit of a funk right now. I’ve been sick for twelve solid days, I can’t get interested in my writing, and I’m pessimistic and irritable. I am right on the edge of depression, that state in which I don’t know the meaning of life and feel overwhelmed by the futility of existence.
Last year I said that I thought the bishop’s ambiguous announcement put us one step closer to closing the facility I love so much and where I spent so many happy days, and building elsewhere. The church of my early childhood has already secured a tract for a new building, something I thought about when I visited the familiar place on New Year’s Day to see, maybe for the last time, the camel I used to ride. (The “Future Site of . .. ” sign has been up for nearly a year. There was a backhoe on the property a few weeks ago and I haven’t had the heart to drive by since then.)
Last year I said, “I feel resigned, accepting, confident that the bishop will make the decision that is the right one, even if it’s not the one I want.” I am less sanguine today. It’s a pull-the-covers-over-your-head-and-hide-from-reality day, that’s for sure.
Love it? Hate it? Just want to say Hi? Leave a comment, or e-mail me:
margaretdeangelis [at] gmail [dot] com (replace the brackets with @ and a period)