16. Gorgeous

It’s Saturday night. As long as I live it will always feel special, even though at Our Lady of West Saugerties it's just another sundown. When I was a kid, my Grandmother and I would always watch Saturday Night Wrestling on television in the 1950’s. The entire charade bored me, frankly, but Grandma was a true fan. She would lunge back and forth in her rocking chair, cheering on her half naked champion while I listened with one ear and read ahead in my Geography textbook, “America’s World – from Washington to Peking.” What made the night special was the popcorn and soft drinks she allowed us while we watched Enrique Torres, Don Eagle, Whipper Watson and her all time favorite, Gorgeous George. She took me to see George when he came to town one snowy winter night. I’ll tell you the story sometime.

Did you do your homework regarding St. Jessica? You have no excuse if you failed to do your assignment, because these days it should take only a few clicks on the Internet. In fact, when my cousin Martha Rose and I were together at our last family funeral, she told me that a few clicks did a lot for her. They put her into a lifetime of debt!

Saint Jessica was the wife of Chuza, a steward to King Herod Antipas of Galilee. Did you remember when Mary Magdalen went to the tomb on Easter morning that she was not alone? That’s right, M.M. brought with her two other gals who had been cooking meals and presumably washing and ironing for Jesus and the Apostles. One of them was Jessica. I don’t know if Mr. Chuza knew of his wife’s activities, but for her efforts she became a saint and received perpetual care in heaven, so to speak. So you never know. You should be nice to anyone calling himself the Son of Man, especially if he's Jewish.  I think my patron saint, Jessica, has a sense of humor, so I’m not worried about offending her. As for the Son of Man, there is no question he has a sense of humor, and I’ve learned it’s quite well developed.

One Way Out - The Allman Brothers