Citizen Sheep
We were still waiting the obligatory month to see if
the embryos implanted and Miimii had a bun in the oven. I
told her that if she ever did have a child we'd have a
hell of a time telling him where babies come from. Since we
were moving soon, I encouraged Miimii to get her U.S.
citizenship so she wouldn't be at a disadvantage trying to
find work in our new location. So...on August 10th
, ten years to the day after I joined the Air Force, Miimii
became an american citizen. She's the bored looking o
ne in the red dress. Pernel Pelican let me borrow his video
camera again and he even came to share in this wond
erful experience. After this we drove through Spokane with
the video camera and off to St. Anne's church to talk
with our favorite priest in the world, Father John Rhompa.
Father Rhompa was Dutch and spoke with a thick accent. He was 69 years-old and was hard of hearing. In fact,
the entire congregation of St. Anne's was hard of hearing. I think Miimii and I were the only two who could hear
in the whole place. It wasn't uncommon for us to be singing hymns and stop right in the middle because no one
could reach the high notes.Once when Father Rhompa was exiting the church he walked past me singing and I
noticed he was singing a different verse than the rest of the congregation. He was so funny and very challenging
in his sermons. He retired within a year and we wrote to him from Langley for a while until we fell out of contact.
August 10, 1994
Last kilometer--give it a few minutes to play
As of this writing (August 9, 2007), Father Rompa has come out of retirement and is still the pastor of St. Annes, and the age of 81. I also found out he's quite a legend, as this recent article shows, along with a recent photo.
Father John Rompa, 2005