This week I have a pet peeve to air out:
In what universe was it decided that if you have a paranormal television show, you are an instant "expert" in all things paranormal? Granted, there have been a few excellent television shows that sprang from very experienced paranormal investigators, such as Jason and Grant, not to mention Barry Fitzgerald -- but unfortunately they are now fewer and far between as the trend has continued.
Unfortunately, there have been many more very well-educated, experienced paranormal investigators, such as our late founder Rick Moran, -- and a few others who probably SHOULD have had a television show, but realized that the production would never be done correctly to document the "real world" of how it is done and what kinds of phenomena one can and does experience in the field.
Now days, it seems that any wet-behind-the-ears beefcake out there can have an interest in the paranormal, pitch the show, and instantly become a new "star" and "expert". It doesn't matter if they get their facts wrong, such as when Ryan Buell from Paranormal State claimed that there was an actual stained-glass window built into the structure which was a "demonic symbol" in the warden's quarters of a well-known haunted penitentiary. (The window was actually structured into a Masonic symbol by the designers of the building!) I think that this is completely irresponsible to mislead the public this way, as well as not having conducted more research into the history of the building and what these symbols actually mean.
Not only that, but where are the women out there who have been investigating cases for years on their own dime because they had a calling to do it? Why don't they have their own show if in fact that is the criteria for being an "expert"?
Statistically, it seems to me that there are actually more women in the paranormal field than men. However, since "sex sells", producers want a young, hot male with followers, and one really good looking female who doesn't say much at all, but wears very tight jeans at the very least and is put into precarious positions in the field by herself so that next we can hear her scream and be "rescued" by the men in the group.
Please, people! The women I know in the paranormal field are experienced, serious women of all shapes, ages and sizes, are likely to be in the front of the group walking into goodness knows what, sizing it all up in a few minutes, and directing their teams if their well-trained members don't already know exactly what to do (some of which of course include men), on what to do next! In the groups with a male leader (which I realize there are many) are very likely to have several women in the group in higher positions whether that be evidence, technical, or computer geek.
Not only that, but when a woman does "run the show" such as Yvette Fielding, on the popular British television show "Most Haunted", she routinely contradicts the only true paranormal investigator on the show, Dr. Ciaran O'Keefe! Poor Ciaran. It must be quite frustrating for him to know that he knows how to conduct a real paranormal investigation, only to be relegated to the back end of everything most of the time on that show.
Case in point: Recently on the show, the cast hears a loud noise. Of course, they all start and jump, and scream. Dr. O'Keefe says, "That noise came from the next room," because he wants them to move slowly to the next room to investigate it, and because he actually was standing closest to the door and could hear it the best. Yvette cut him a look out of the corner of her eyes that told him to basically shut up, and then says, "No, the noise came from beneath us. It's from the basement! Let's all go to the basement!" (or words to that effect) BECAUSE she obviously needed a segway to move the action to the basement! Sigh.
Why can't we see instead someone like Amy Bruni for instance who is truly an excellent paranormal investigator in her own right who had her own group in California before joining the Ghost Hunters show. She is both young, beautiful, and experienced. It would be delightful to see her have her own show, along with Donna Lacroix. Both of them have had years of experience and should also fulfill the "sex appeal" requirement that producers demand. Kris Williams has now come a long way since we first saw her, and she has a very keen interest in research and genealogy in her background which truly helps when conducting a professional paranormal investigation.
Instead of screaming, most of the women I know usually try to get even closer to the phenomenon in order to understand it better. In fact, recently, I received my first bruise from a paranormal source on a case in which I felt as if somebody was running their thumb across my hip. I did not jump and run from it, I just looked around to see if anyone was there. Later on I actually felt rewarded that I had received a bruise on the scene because it added to the evidence in the case! I say this not to toot my own horn, but to give an example of our mindset.
However, just fyi: Whenever there is a paranormal occurrence at a site, you should not -- I repeat not -- run toward it like a heard of buffalo like some we have all seen! You should walk toward it calmly, quietly, to try to observe it before it runs it course, lest you actually frighten off the spirit causing it. (Yes, as strange as it seems, sometimes it does run both ways. They can actually be frightened of the people investigating them, stop, and leave the area.)
All right, I digress . . . . Now in conclusion, it would be refreshing for once to see REAL investigators in the field of all shapes, sizes, and ages and see what a real paranormal investigator does, how they do it, and the demeanor most of them have in common with each other in order to actually further the field, get more young people interested in it for a career, open up more college courses in parapsychology, much less as a "major", and more grant money to fund it because this is something that is occurring daily in the "natural world" in which we live under natural laws of the universe. It is not just something "out there" to be frightened of or to tell girl and boy scouts around a campfire at night to scare them to death.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Are There UFO's Among Us?
Ever since the new Discovery series "Into the Universe With Stephen Hawking" began last week, there has been a lot of "buzz" about his statements concerning alien life. For those who do not know, Stephen Hawking is a brilliant British theoretical physicist and author from Oxford, England, who is stricken with a rare form of ALS which has enabled him to live for decades instead of years with the completely debilitating disorder that has made him almost completely immobilized in a wheelchair. He must use a special speech synthesizer with which to "speak" aloud.
During last week's installment, he said that he believed there was alien life out there somewhere, although it is far far away from earth as the planets scientists know about closer to us surely could not sustain life as we know it. In other words there are no mammals much less human-like beings with opposable thumbs who could actually build ships capable of traveling thousands of light-years to reach our solar system. He summed it all up by saying we should stop trying to contact them saying that it is very possible that they do exist somewhere, "They are likely to be more advanced than us . . . " and "So if aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."
Next the Larry King Show televised a show dedicated just to these statements about alien life and invited Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, another famous physicist and author, David Brin, an astronomer, Seth Shostak, Director of the Seti Institute, and actor and commediene Dan Ackroid who is a believer in UFO's and is a member of Mufon to give their views on the subject.
Dr. Michio Kaku is a brilliant man whom Rick Moran had spoken to on the telephone and written a training page on several months ago, and he commented that he disagrees with his colleague Stephen Hawking and believes that if they ever do show up here, they will be "benevolent" because they are thousands of years ahead of us if they could make it here and thus have learned lessons with which we as a species are still struggling.
David Brin and Seth Shostak believe that intelligent species do exist, but they again are much to far away from earth. Shostak, of course, wanting the Seti Insitute to continue to receive NASA grants and public donations, states unequivacably that if they are out there, their special radios would have picked up their signal (except that after 25 years of training the antennas to the skies, there has only been one odd signal that could not be identified decades ago that never repeated itself)! (Of course, he said they need more money and more time to reach farther and farther into deep space, and someday, they still hope to make radio contact with an intelligent species!)
Dan Ackroid says that they are already here, and that they have been here for a long, long time, but that the truth of the matter is that they don't really want to socialize with human beings on a grand scale because "We are not so nice." I have to chuckle at this because from all appearances on a global scale, that could be true.
The bottom line is, however, what about the credible people such as military, pilots, police officers, etc., since the 1940's who have seen "something" but to this day have no idea what they have seen because they have never seen it before that sighting or since?
In fact, more importantly, what about me, who along with my cousin, saw "something" when we were teenagers that neither one of us will ever forget for as long as we continue to live on this planet? In fact, the following sighting I'm going to write about is one of the reasons I became interested in paranormal phenomena and UFO's from that time to this day.
When I was 14 years old, I was staying at my grandmother's home in East Texas for a few weeks in the summer. (This is the same land that Rick Moran lived on when he died and where his wife Joi still resides and that he affectionately dubbed "The Dog Ranch"). My cousin Mick was also staying over that night. My grandmother had just gone to sleep approximately 30 minutes before, and we were still up watching television. Soon, whatever it was that was on became boring to my cousin so he stood up and walked out to the screened front porch to get some fresh air.
Within just a few moments, he excitedly and fearfully called my name. "Joy! Joy! Come out here quick!", he yelled. I immediately shushed him because I didn't want him to awaken our grandmother who I knew would come out to fuss at us if we disturbed her sleep since she had so many aches and pains, her slumber was hard won and thus was very important to her.
Again, he called my name, telling me that he was not joking and that I should come out there NOW! So I got up, rolling my eyes, walked out to the porch, and he pointed to the night sky across the road above a pasture. Immediately I lost my frustration with him and became both fascinated and terrified at the same time, and yet I could not move or look away from my spot.
Suspended in the air about 100 yards above the field, was a oval shaped object that I estimate was about 25 feet long which then literally began darting up and down, back and forth above the ground, wildly, and quickly -- one second it would be located in one spot and the next it simply was about 10 or 20 feet over in another spot. It did not travel through the air in a smooth path to the new spot; it was simply THERE!
The craft moved much faster than a helicopter ever could in that decade (the 1970's) or for that matter than any are now. In fact although my father was not a pilot, he did work for Braniff Airways, and I had already traveled to several states on airplanes, seen aircraft and helicopters take off, fly and land at Love Field Airport, etc. for years as he often took me there to watch them.
What we were also observing was a strobe-like light effect shine across the body of the object from right to left as the color of the object changed from white to blue to green to red and then back to white.
We were almost frozen to the spot in shock while we watched it in relative safety from behind the latched screen door. One more thing that we both noted was that the locusts had stopped making noise. In fact everything became extremely quiet outside -- no dogs barked, no wolves howled which seemed odd since it was almost 10:00 p.m. and in the middle of the hot summer time in Texas when it seemed that the animals and insects were their most loud. There was no noise at all outside except for a tiny beep that emitted from the object which almost sounded like the noise that a submarine makes under water which sounded off once every eight seconds because I actually began to count off between the sounds.
Finally, the object stopped moving, and I have to admit that I was afraid that somebody or something had noticed us and it would come even closer into the yard. But in a moment, the object starting traveling straight UP! I simply could not resist: I unlocked the door latch, and walked down the front steps and onto the stone path. I stood in the middle of the yard and watched the object as it ascended. I thought surely it would change directions and finally fly away across the sky horizontally, but it never did. It rose up until it became a pin-point of light and then simply winked out of sight. After the UFO was out of sight, the locusts began croaking again, and I heard a dog barking way off in the distance from another farm close by.
I walked back inside with my cousin quiet and stunned. I thought before I re-entered the house that it had only been about 5 minutes, but the local news show was well underway, and that is when I realized it had been at least 20 minutes between the time Mick called me outside and when we walked back into the house.
Now all these years later, every time a new series or special comes to television about UFO's, I ask myself again, "What did we see all those years ago before all of this powerful equipment was in place and before satellites were launched into space?" Was it some secret military device they were testing way out in the country so that others in more heavily populated areas would not notice? If so, how "on earth" in the mid-1970's could it travel straight up the way it did and look like a tiny star before it got so far away that the human eye could not see the lights on it any longer? Something that profound should eventually have made its way into regular use, and Americans should have eventually been made aware of it after it was declassified because I can tell you this: It looked like it was a very effective surveillance aircraft to us if it could hover, dart around, and then retreat into outer space!
Rick Moran hypothesized that if our scientists claim that aliens could not possibly be visiting the earth, then the only thing that still fits is alternate dimensions that sometimes "touch" right here on earth or even time travel. However, most of our current physicists say that that too is something that just cannot happen -- at least not in a way that lets us occasionally get a peak at a creature that does not "fit" here or a craft that simply cannot exist! So my questions remain, and although I hope we gain some insight eventually, they may never be answered in my lifetime. Some of us keep trying to find answers or something that just "makes sense" to us -- even in the face of ridicule or scoffing -- all because of a life changing event in our pasts that simply will never completely let us go.
Copyright © 2010, The ASUP, Inc.
During last week's installment, he said that he believed there was alien life out there somewhere, although it is far far away from earth as the planets scientists know about closer to us surely could not sustain life as we know it. In other words there are no mammals much less human-like beings with opposable thumbs who could actually build ships capable of traveling thousands of light-years to reach our solar system. He summed it all up by saying we should stop trying to contact them saying that it is very possible that they do exist somewhere, "They are likely to be more advanced than us . . . " and "So if aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."
Next the Larry King Show televised a show dedicated just to these statements about alien life and invited Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, another famous physicist and author, David Brin, an astronomer, Seth Shostak, Director of the Seti Institute, and actor and commediene Dan Ackroid who is a believer in UFO's and is a member of Mufon to give their views on the subject.
Dr. Michio Kaku is a brilliant man whom Rick Moran had spoken to on the telephone and written a training page on several months ago, and he commented that he disagrees with his colleague Stephen Hawking and believes that if they ever do show up here, they will be "benevolent" because they are thousands of years ahead of us if they could make it here and thus have learned lessons with which we as a species are still struggling.
David Brin and Seth Shostak believe that intelligent species do exist, but they again are much to far away from earth. Shostak, of course, wanting the Seti Insitute to continue to receive NASA grants and public donations, states unequivacably that if they are out there, their special radios would have picked up their signal (except that after 25 years of training the antennas to the skies, there has only been one odd signal that could not be identified decades ago that never repeated itself)! (Of course, he said they need more money and more time to reach farther and farther into deep space, and someday, they still hope to make radio contact with an intelligent species!)
Dan Ackroid says that they are already here, and that they have been here for a long, long time, but that the truth of the matter is that they don't really want to socialize with human beings on a grand scale because "We are not so nice." I have to chuckle at this because from all appearances on a global scale, that could be true.
The bottom line is, however, what about the credible people such as military, pilots, police officers, etc., since the 1940's who have seen "something" but to this day have no idea what they have seen because they have never seen it before that sighting or since?
In fact, more importantly, what about me, who along with my cousin, saw "something" when we were teenagers that neither one of us will ever forget for as long as we continue to live on this planet? In fact, the following sighting I'm going to write about is one of the reasons I became interested in paranormal phenomena and UFO's from that time to this day.
When I was 14 years old, I was staying at my grandmother's home in East Texas for a few weeks in the summer. (This is the same land that Rick Moran lived on when he died and where his wife Joi still resides and that he affectionately dubbed "The Dog Ranch"). My cousin Mick was also staying over that night. My grandmother had just gone to sleep approximately 30 minutes before, and we were still up watching television. Soon, whatever it was that was on became boring to my cousin so he stood up and walked out to the screened front porch to get some fresh air.
Within just a few moments, he excitedly and fearfully called my name. "Joy! Joy! Come out here quick!", he yelled. I immediately shushed him because I didn't want him to awaken our grandmother who I knew would come out to fuss at us if we disturbed her sleep since she had so many aches and pains, her slumber was hard won and thus was very important to her.
Again, he called my name, telling me that he was not joking and that I should come out there NOW! So I got up, rolling my eyes, walked out to the porch, and he pointed to the night sky across the road above a pasture. Immediately I lost my frustration with him and became both fascinated and terrified at the same time, and yet I could not move or look away from my spot.
Suspended in the air about 100 yards above the field, was a oval shaped object that I estimate was about 25 feet long which then literally began darting up and down, back and forth above the ground, wildly, and quickly -- one second it would be located in one spot and the next it simply was about 10 or 20 feet over in another spot. It did not travel through the air in a smooth path to the new spot; it was simply THERE!
The craft moved much faster than a helicopter ever could in that decade (the 1970's) or for that matter than any are now. In fact although my father was not a pilot, he did work for Braniff Airways, and I had already traveled to several states on airplanes, seen aircraft and helicopters take off, fly and land at Love Field Airport, etc. for years as he often took me there to watch them.
What we were also observing was a strobe-like light effect shine across the body of the object from right to left as the color of the object changed from white to blue to green to red and then back to white.
We were almost frozen to the spot in shock while we watched it in relative safety from behind the latched screen door. One more thing that we both noted was that the locusts had stopped making noise. In fact everything became extremely quiet outside -- no dogs barked, no wolves howled which seemed odd since it was almost 10:00 p.m. and in the middle of the hot summer time in Texas when it seemed that the animals and insects were their most loud. There was no noise at all outside except for a tiny beep that emitted from the object which almost sounded like the noise that a submarine makes under water which sounded off once every eight seconds because I actually began to count off between the sounds.
Finally, the object stopped moving, and I have to admit that I was afraid that somebody or something had noticed us and it would come even closer into the yard. But in a moment, the object starting traveling straight UP! I simply could not resist: I unlocked the door latch, and walked down the front steps and onto the stone path. I stood in the middle of the yard and watched the object as it ascended. I thought surely it would change directions and finally fly away across the sky horizontally, but it never did. It rose up until it became a pin-point of light and then simply winked out of sight. After the UFO was out of sight, the locusts began croaking again, and I heard a dog barking way off in the distance from another farm close by.
I walked back inside with my cousin quiet and stunned. I thought before I re-entered the house that it had only been about 5 minutes, but the local news show was well underway, and that is when I realized it had been at least 20 minutes between the time Mick called me outside and when we walked back into the house.
Now all these years later, every time a new series or special comes to television about UFO's, I ask myself again, "What did we see all those years ago before all of this powerful equipment was in place and before satellites were launched into space?" Was it some secret military device they were testing way out in the country so that others in more heavily populated areas would not notice? If so, how "on earth" in the mid-1970's could it travel straight up the way it did and look like a tiny star before it got so far away that the human eye could not see the lights on it any longer? Something that profound should eventually have made its way into regular use, and Americans should have eventually been made aware of it after it was declassified because I can tell you this: It looked like it was a very effective surveillance aircraft to us if it could hover, dart around, and then retreat into outer space!
Rick Moran hypothesized that if our scientists claim that aliens could not possibly be visiting the earth, then the only thing that still fits is alternate dimensions that sometimes "touch" right here on earth or even time travel. However, most of our current physicists say that that too is something that just cannot happen -- at least not in a way that lets us occasionally get a peak at a creature that does not "fit" here or a craft that simply cannot exist! So my questions remain, and although I hope we gain some insight eventually, they may never be answered in my lifetime. Some of us keep trying to find answers or something that just "makes sense" to us -- even in the face of ridicule or scoffing -- all because of a life changing event in our pasts that simply will never completely let us go.
Copyright © 2010, The ASUP, Inc.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Busy Busy!
I haven't posted in a few weeks because we've been so busy. We've been working on two very interesting and involved cases, one in East Texas and one in Dallas.
Sometimes, if a paranormal investigation group is doing a thorough job, they just cannot get in and out in one visit! Occasionally, there are just too many layers and intricacies at the location.
This really makes a "P.I's" day generally speaking to be sleuthing everything out to everyone's satisfaction. At times, these cases will be on-going. At other times, the client finally comes to some of their own conclusions and begin to finally feel "safe" in their own homes.
The goal is not generally to make anything leave. The main goal is to figure out what exactly is going on at the site, and to more or less counsel the clients, and even help them learn to communicate with whatever is there! It becomes somewhat of a negotiation or a marriage between the living and the dead!
Hope everyone has a great week! Now I'm going back to our cases . . . .
Copyright © 2010, The ASUP, Inc.
Sometimes, if a paranormal investigation group is doing a thorough job, they just cannot get in and out in one visit! Occasionally, there are just too many layers and intricacies at the location.
This really makes a "P.I's" day generally speaking to be sleuthing everything out to everyone's satisfaction. At times, these cases will be on-going. At other times, the client finally comes to some of their own conclusions and begin to finally feel "safe" in their own homes.
The goal is not generally to make anything leave. The main goal is to figure out what exactly is going on at the site, and to more or less counsel the clients, and even help them learn to communicate with whatever is there! It becomes somewhat of a negotiation or a marriage between the living and the dead!
Hope everyone has a great week! Now I'm going back to our cases . . . .
Copyright © 2010, The ASUP, Inc.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A Case of Synchronicity
Rick Moran, the Founder and Coordinator of ASUP spoke a lot about the synchronicity in all of our lives.
According to Wikipedia.com, "Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance."
So on this, the one-month anniversary of Rick's passing, I find that I am once again reminded and can no longer keep quiet about just what happened in the days before and at his funeral.
You see, Rick was Scottish on one side of the family and Irish on the other. He was raised very much in those traditions by his mother and his "Sainted Grandmother". He was also raised a Catholic, was the "product of a Jesuit education" as he was fond of saying, and in fact was a Deacon of a large church in Manhattan at one time. As many people do, he strayed this way and then that way during the course of his life investigating several religious traditions, but once again came back to at least the core beliefs of the Catholic faith. He and his wife Joi used to attend a parish church at one time in The Colony, but they had moved to Wills Point three years ago, and had not attended regularly since that time.
Rick passed over unexpectedly that day on March 13, 2010. He did have a known heart condition, but he had been doing so well recently, that it was truly a shock when he collapsed.
However, even this situation was interesting. Rick had had a WONDERFUL day full of accomplishments in regard to a new hoop house being set up on the ranch. He and I were just about to leave on yet another investigation together (his first love besides Joi). My husband Joe had been with him earlier that day, I had talked to him on the phone before driving over there, and he and Joi had had a lovely lunch. We all commented that he was happier than we had seen him in weeks.
Joi and I were luckily right there with him in the room when he began to go down. He got dizzy, reached out for me, and I know at that moment we both thought he would be fine if he just sat down in a chair. When that did not work out quite as planned, I eased him down as best as I could so he would not hit his head on the floor.
Joi began monitoring him right away as she used to be a Fire Department Captain in New York and is a trained EMT. I called 911 immediately. Everything that COULD be done was in fact done which I can tell everyone makes a HUGE difference when dealing with the "what-if's" of life and death!
Afterward, we were all devastated of course, and although in shock, funeral arrangements were made in a timely and efficient manner. However, to the family members it was VERY important that a priest at least officiate even if he could not do full mass at the funeral!
That afternoon and the next day, calls were made. The only two priests in the immediate area were tied up with other things with their own parish members, and as Rick was not a member, they could not rearrange their schedules. Other Catholic churches within 30 miles, as well as the Dallas and Tyler Dioceses, both 50 miles away, were called by his family, but to no avail!
Finally, one of our Directors, Sheryl Baird, contacted me on Tuesday evening and simply asked in general (not knowing yet about the dilemma), "Is there ANYTHING I can do?" I quipped in complete irony, "Can you find a Priest???!!!" Surprisingly, Sheryl said (because she's just this way), "I'll do what I can!"
Wednesday morning, bright and early, Sheryl began to call. She called anybody and everybody she could think of in the entire Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Finally, a very nice Priest, a Fr. Michael in Mesquite said, "I'll find you a priest!"
Two and a half hours later, a very nice man with a lilting accent called Sheryl back. He said that he was the Priest over a small Catholic church in -- are you ready for this name -- Gun Barrel City -- a VERY small town near a recreational lake about an hour Southwest from Wills Point. She couldn't place the accent, but something about this priest was different. He asked, "Why on EARTH would ya schedule a funeral WITHOUT a Priest?" lol! He said he would rearrange his schedule and be there although he could not perform full Mass without permission from the Diocese. She told him that was all right. We just needed a Priest to officiate for the family. Whew! What a relief.
He called the funeral home right away to get the details. The funeral was spectacular -- a celebration -- as his wife Joi has since commented. His daughter Nichole arranged for a man wearing a traditional kilt to play the bagpipes, and led the family into the chapel. One of the songs played during the funeral was a traditional Irish prayer. The Masons came and conducted a brief ceremony as well since Rick was "Legacy Mason".
When we looked down at the funeral program, we were astonished to find the name "Fr. Francis Dowd". A chill went over those of us in the "know". Francis Dowd is an IRISH name -- of course!
It seems that Father Francis came straight from Ireland several years ago to Texas, and has a wonderful first generation accent. He performed an incredible service in English, Latin AND in Gaellic (which Rick was fluent in)! During the ceremony, he commented, "I knew this man!" A small gasp went through the family members and close friends. Understandably, everyone at this point were even more surprised and shocked to say the least!
After the service, he walked up to Joi and said, "I used to see Rick at the Knights of Columbus meetings several years ago in Rockwall." Rick and Joi had lived in Rockwall back in the 90's when they first moved from New York to Texas, and Rockwall is about another hour away from Wills Point in the opposite direction.
Now perhaps reading all of this, you think that this is ALL just a coincidence, but those of us who knew Rick well do not think so. We like to look at it as one final lesson from a man who taught us all so much about all the possibilities in life!
Copyright © 2010, The ASUP, Inc.
According to Wikipedia.com, "Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance."
So on this, the one-month anniversary of Rick's passing, I find that I am once again reminded and can no longer keep quiet about just what happened in the days before and at his funeral.
You see, Rick was Scottish on one side of the family and Irish on the other. He was raised very much in those traditions by his mother and his "Sainted Grandmother". He was also raised a Catholic, was the "product of a Jesuit education" as he was fond of saying, and in fact was a Deacon of a large church in Manhattan at one time. As many people do, he strayed this way and then that way during the course of his life investigating several religious traditions, but once again came back to at least the core beliefs of the Catholic faith. He and his wife Joi used to attend a parish church at one time in The Colony, but they had moved to Wills Point three years ago, and had not attended regularly since that time.
Rick passed over unexpectedly that day on March 13, 2010. He did have a known heart condition, but he had been doing so well recently, that it was truly a shock when he collapsed.
However, even this situation was interesting. Rick had had a WONDERFUL day full of accomplishments in regard to a new hoop house being set up on the ranch. He and I were just about to leave on yet another investigation together (his first love besides Joi). My husband Joe had been with him earlier that day, I had talked to him on the phone before driving over there, and he and Joi had had a lovely lunch. We all commented that he was happier than we had seen him in weeks.
Joi and I were luckily right there with him in the room when he began to go down. He got dizzy, reached out for me, and I know at that moment we both thought he would be fine if he just sat down in a chair. When that did not work out quite as planned, I eased him down as best as I could so he would not hit his head on the floor.
Joi began monitoring him right away as she used to be a Fire Department Captain in New York and is a trained EMT. I called 911 immediately. Everything that COULD be done was in fact done which I can tell everyone makes a HUGE difference when dealing with the "what-if's" of life and death!
Afterward, we were all devastated of course, and although in shock, funeral arrangements were made in a timely and efficient manner. However, to the family members it was VERY important that a priest at least officiate even if he could not do full mass at the funeral!
That afternoon and the next day, calls were made. The only two priests in the immediate area were tied up with other things with their own parish members, and as Rick was not a member, they could not rearrange their schedules. Other Catholic churches within 30 miles, as well as the Dallas and Tyler Dioceses, both 50 miles away, were called by his family, but to no avail!
Finally, one of our Directors, Sheryl Baird, contacted me on Tuesday evening and simply asked in general (not knowing yet about the dilemma), "Is there ANYTHING I can do?" I quipped in complete irony, "Can you find a Priest???!!!" Surprisingly, Sheryl said (because she's just this way), "I'll do what I can!"
Wednesday morning, bright and early, Sheryl began to call. She called anybody and everybody she could think of in the entire Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Finally, a very nice Priest, a Fr. Michael in Mesquite said, "I'll find you a priest!"
Two and a half hours later, a very nice man with a lilting accent called Sheryl back. He said that he was the Priest over a small Catholic church in -- are you ready for this name -- Gun Barrel City -- a VERY small town near a recreational lake about an hour Southwest from Wills Point. She couldn't place the accent, but something about this priest was different. He asked, "Why on EARTH would ya schedule a funeral WITHOUT a Priest?" lol! He said he would rearrange his schedule and be there although he could not perform full Mass without permission from the Diocese. She told him that was all right. We just needed a Priest to officiate for the family. Whew! What a relief.
He called the funeral home right away to get the details. The funeral was spectacular -- a celebration -- as his wife Joi has since commented. His daughter Nichole arranged for a man wearing a traditional kilt to play the bagpipes, and led the family into the chapel. One of the songs played during the funeral was a traditional Irish prayer. The Masons came and conducted a brief ceremony as well since Rick was "Legacy Mason".
When we looked down at the funeral program, we were astonished to find the name "Fr. Francis Dowd". A chill went over those of us in the "know". Francis Dowd is an IRISH name -- of course!
It seems that Father Francis came straight from Ireland several years ago to Texas, and has a wonderful first generation accent. He performed an incredible service in English, Latin AND in Gaellic (which Rick was fluent in)! During the ceremony, he commented, "I knew this man!" A small gasp went through the family members and close friends. Understandably, everyone at this point were even more surprised and shocked to say the least!
After the service, he walked up to Joi and said, "I used to see Rick at the Knights of Columbus meetings several years ago in Rockwall." Rick and Joi had lived in Rockwall back in the 90's when they first moved from New York to Texas, and Rockwall is about another hour away from Wills Point in the opposite direction.
Now perhaps reading all of this, you think that this is ALL just a coincidence, but those of us who knew Rick well do not think so. We like to look at it as one final lesson from a man who taught us all so much about all the possibilities in life!
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