Why I missed the sib call, or confessions of a social butterfly.

I know you are all thinking, “There is only one reason Mac would miss the sib call: sex, drugs and rock and roll.”

Well, first of all, ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ are three things. And for another thing, at my age it isn’t ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’, it is ‘sex, drugs or rock and roll’. But that is a whole other blog.

But now, the real reasons I missed the sib call are two women I have known, kind of, sort of, for the last 20 years; Faith as a friend of a friends and Mary as a quasi-customer. Since Richard joined the choir at St. Mary’s, I have gotten to know Faith and Mary better. Mary is the director and Faith is the organist. I attended Faith and George’s 50th Anniversary party, (Mary and Leroy’s 50th Anniversary was a number of years ago) and had the unfortunate honor of attending George and Leroy’s funerals. I know you’re all wondering, “That’s all fine and good, but qu’est-ce que le buzz? Why the hell would Mac miss the sib call for these two women?”

Well, no one knows the exact dates, but everyone is absolutely certain that by February of 1961, Mary was the director of the choir at St. Mary’s and Faith the organist; they may have been in those roles in the late ‘50s. So there was a potluck at the parish to honor the two women and their years of service. I had pushed for it, so I thought I needed to attend.

I think it is pretty amazing that these two women have served for over 50 years. (Eek, a century!) And these are no high paying positions they have. Rumor has it they don’t even receive a modest stipend. Some have said there were times they had to buy music out of their own pockets.

So, my hat is off to Mary and Faith. I hope you both have 50 more years! If it’s any sign, Faith’s mother was at the potluck tonight.