About deaconjohn1987
What’s to say about me? Well, I’m 74 years old, semi-retired with my wife Marianne, and living in a condo in Central Florida. I was born in Manhattan (New York Hospital) but lived my childhood in Astoria, Queens. My wife lived one block away but we never met until I was about 21 years old. I enlisted in the US Navy in 1954 and served aboard 2 Aircraft Carriers, the Bennington and the Leyte. After 3 and a half years I was discharged and I worked in many different jobs. My favorite job was as a motorcycle courier for the local TV News Stations and U.P.I. I got paid to do something I loved, riding a Harley!
I met my wife through her cousin and we married and had 6 children; 2 are in heaven. We now have 8 grandchildren! Most of them are living in New York and Pennsylvania, so we don’t see them too much.
In 1987 I was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Brooklyn and served in four parishes until 2002, when we relocated to Florida. Mainly because we couldn’t afford to live in NYC and for my wife’s health, she needed a home of her own. She has ‘end stage kidney failure’ and is expected to go on dialysis soon. Our daughter helped us buy the condo and answered my prayers that we could have our own home. Blessed be God forever!
I work a part-time job to help pay for the medications and doctor visits, but it’s really tough making ends meet.
I miss New York with all the excitement and places to go. And the beautiful churches! I also love the Old Latin Mass but can’t get to one here. As a matter of fact we don’t even have a parish in our town of Tavares, so we travel to Eustis or Mt. Dora for Mass. Our life is a struggle and I hope to post some of these trials here for the glory of God!