Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,

I had a wonderful weekend in Pittsburgh finding myself with the oldest connections to whom I belong. I was blessed to officiate the wedding ceremony for the middle child of some of my dearest friends from my college days, and connected with several other friends from that action-packed and rewarding time of my life. Jeff and I visited again with both sets of our parents, and also with his twin brother and family, as well as with my sister. We visited a couple of favorite restaurants (Wholley’s in the Strip District of Pittsburgh has the BEST fish sandwich in the world) and drove past most of our former residences. It was a blast from the past, and I appreciate that the Fellowship makes the space and provides the finances so that I can take a Sunday off and occasionally leave town.

One of the surprises of my time away was some information we learned about a set of grandparents from a bit of exploring on Ancestry.com. Some family secrets revealed, and others more deeply buried. Folks leave their homes, their origins, for so many reasons, in past centuries as well as in this. It takes a couple of generations for names and languages to change, for ways of living to become quaint customs. May we have patience and compassion for the immigrant communities within our larger frame of reference, holding on while moving forward, living in two places and in two ways at the same time.

One final surprise of my time away came from a visit to the cemetery where my father’s paternal grandparents were buried. Both were born in the 1870s, I am not certain where, with their deaths in Pittsburgh, PA—Antonio’s in 1924 and Porsia’s in 1950. And the family name was spelled “Capezza.” I don’t plan to change the spelling of my name, but this detail will enable me to research origins with more accuracy, will enable more compassionate attention to the circumstances of their perilous journey and life.

May you live and learn with compassionate attention, today and every day, as you remember you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, and may it be so.

Blessings, Rev. Rita