New York, NY

Wednesday December 24th We were up early, hoping to get out and about in the am and to pick up Ali from the hospital later in the afternoon. Our morning call to her put an end to those plans. She was still in for today but, hopefully, out tomorrow…Christmas Day. So, we waited until the 11am visiting hour so that we could go and visit her. She was, understandably, quite depressed. With little we could do we, eventually, set out on what was a a wet and drizzly day. The four of us headed to 5th Ave. We split up after a while as Mark, Tom and I had ‘Heeley’s’ for Tom to seek out as well as Yankees stuff. The most interesting part of the day was the game machine at the pub where Mark, Tom and I had a burger and pizza for lunch. As if there is not enough violence in the world, this pub had a slot machine where you could shoot elk, rams etc whilst throwing back a beer and downing a burger! What more could you want just off 5th Ave? We all met back at the apartment at around 4pm and this left us with just enough time to head back into St Patrick’s Cathedral for 5.30pm Christmas Eve Mass. Tom was meant to be ONE of the Altar Boys but turned out to be the ONLY Altar Boy. He had to vie for camera space with the Parish Priest, Father Joe, and Monsignor Richie. Both were unashamedly ‘Liturgical Hogs’. The Mass was a special event and one that we will not forget. We stopped in for a quick visit with Ali before heading home for a night in with a home cooked meal.