“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.”
—Kevin Arnold
Happy Birthday to my dad, Frank Augustine who would have been 102 today. We were blessed to have him in our lives. I’m a firm believer that the way to keep the memories of loved ones alive is to share your treasured heartfelt recorded memories.
During a recent trip to New Jersey, my brother in law, Joseph Mcallister, a resident of Rutherford, and I collected the statues from a Catholic shrine—my dad tendered for over three decades and brought them to the facilities staff behind the rectory of Our Lady of Grace Church in my hometown of Hoboken, NJ., Rev. Alex Santora had agreed to accept them and find a home for them as my dad had requested before he died.
Back Story:
In 2010, Rev. Santora, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church wrote an article about my dad entitled: "Standing Among Saints on the Hudson" in his column called, "Faith Matters." The focus of the story was how dad had been a caretaker of a Catholic shrine in his storefront bay window—encased in copper framing—year round for over 30 years. The storefront which doubled as a laundry and storage room was located at the base of a five unit building that he and my late mother owned since 1957 (photo). We lived on the second floor. I was 7 years old at the time. Over the ensuing years Passersby, including neighbors and family friends would often stop in front of the shrine in a moment of contemplation and reflective prayer. Some devout Catholics would bless themselves. It was like an outdoor neighborhood chapel.
The reverend wrote that he had passed the shrine a “thousand times” until he discovered my dad sitting on the stoop one day in front of the building was its owner. He retold the story at my mom's funeral services in 2013. It was at that moment that I was struck with a melancholy wave of emotion. Until that time, I took dad’s public display of faith largely for granted—an eccentricity if you will. In that moment I realized that my dad, a former lay brother in the Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining, NY when he was a young man had taken the initiative to be a "keeper of the shrine.”
Some of the photos were taken in St. Augustine, Florida, which lays claim to be the oldest city in the United States and home of “The Castillo de San Marcus—a seventeen century stone fortress overlooking the bay. The trip was a birthday gift to my dad who was 65 at the time. We took Amtrak and watched the world go by. It was an intimate and precious time to reconnect. The city was named after after our namesake, St. Augustine who was a bishop, philosopher, theologian and prolific writer.
Happy Birthday dad and thanks for the memories! We miss you, and I have no doubt you are at peace.
Love,
Dennis
