On this date, 17 years ago, on a frigid January 9th, nearly 800 people came out to celebrate the life of my father, Edward Daniel Novick. Yes, nearly 800 people. That really is nothing by comparison to the amount of people that attended the wake the night before. The funeral home was jammed with lots of friends, family, former little league baseball players dad coached over the course of 40 years, customers he sold life insurance to for 45 years, and lots of priests. To say nothing of the many people who were there to be of support to my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family. It was a madhouse on a very cold night. People stood in line just to get into the funeral home. The line seemed endless. We greeted people for about 4 straight hours once people began to arrive. One of the funeral directors had to come into the parlor and practically hold our hands and force us to take a break and lead us to food and drink.
My father was my world. It was not just because I look so much like him. We shared something that was beyond what some people call ESP (extrasensory perception). We could practically finish each other's sentences. It was really a gift. I don't know for sure where dad would have stood in today's political arena, but my best guess is that he would be just as disgusted with the government as me and most of my circle of friends.
Something that I found important in a weird sort of way was the day that Pope Francis was elected to his office. Never in history had a pope been elected from the Western Hemisphere until that day as Francis was Argentinian. I had been celebrating a funeral that morning and the college of cardinals was in conclave for yet another day. However, as I was driving to the cemetery, there was mention of white smoke coming out of St Peter's -- meaning a new pope was elected. It usually takes a little time for the new guy to come out on the "official balcony," and the hearse was just arriving at the cemetery. I quickly prayed the commendation prayers and raced back to my car to continue listening to the radio broadcast. The cemetery I was in at the time is the cemetery across the street from the one where I family is. So I raced over to dad's grave so that I could share the news with him -- and Francis walked out onto the balcony! It was a first and a new way for the Church. I was glad to hear the news and to say I spent it with dad.
Now it's 17 years later. Pope Francis died in 2025 and the Church had another first -- a United States born pope - Pope Leo XIV, born in a South Suburb of Chicago, about 5 miles east of my parents' home.
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