All posts by Fr Tom Tirman

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On the border……

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I am on my way to a meeting in Lexington tomorrow and I thought in the interest of getting some rest that I would head to a hotel in Louisville tonight. And for those who do not know, Louisville is right across the border from the great state of Indiana.

It has been a good decision too. The hotel is perhaps one of the nicest I have ever been in, and more that this, it is right next to the Ohio river. The picture is of the river looking east from the boardwalk (although it it cement) by my hotel. It is a beautiful site and one that makes me feel it was the right decision to come. I checked in, I walked to the restaurant (the food was LOUSY, but it was a good walk) and then I walked to the river. It was very relaxing.
Now however I am back in my room and in bed. Tomorrow I will make the short jaunt to Lexington and the meeting. It will be all day tomorrow and Saturday for a half day. I am glad I will have the stamina to get through it….particularly because I made this trip to just across the border. Thank God for the rest….now I need some more. I am off to bed!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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What???????

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I went to a work event with my wife last night that included a Josh Groban concert at Conseco Fieldhouse. And to show you how very connected I am with the current happenings of the day, from the moment I knew we were going to the point I heard him sing, I thought he was a country singer…….so much for being with it.

The larger issue for me was not my ineptitude but rather the level that my hearing has deteriorated. I qualified for hearing aids probably some 5 years ago, but have never gotten them. I will say however that an evening like that is probably better if you can understand the words. Sure he sings in Spanish and English and Italian….but it would not have mattered. I knew the words to “You Raise Me Up,” and understood those…..as well as a great song that I loved but could understand only one word….”machine.”
But in all honesty, I am okay with not hearing well. It doesn’t bother me as much as it does everyone else. And how do I know that???? Well Amanda THINKS she hears well, but really does not…..and it drives me NUTS. Of course if she needs them we will get her the hearing aids.
After all, I do not need to hear to mow the lawn!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Lucky to be alive……..

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I went to take Amanda to work early this morning, leaving 3 teenagers and Ben alone and asleep in the house. Steph was up getting ready for work, but Scott (Ben’s roommate) and Cassie were asleep as well. I wondered what would happen if Ben got up while I was gone, but figured he would probably sleep well past when I got back. Of course I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Yep, I came home about an hour later, and as I entered the kitchen it was then that it happened. Ben came into the kitchen like the SWAT team, armed with the amazing dart gun you see in the picture, and pointed it at me as if I were an intruder. I have decided he is either some type of agent for the CIA or he is watching way too many things about the police, good guys and bad guys, and things like that. He had me though….I was unarmed.
I cannot say I am surprised though. He is all about being superheros, Transformers, and SOLDIERS (capitalized because it is actually more important than the other two)! And it pleases me far more than Barbies! I am just thankful he doesn’t carry a real one!
So I am lucky to be alive I suppose. He checked my ID and let me go with a warning. I am just glad he is there to protect us. Clearly the teenagers and that sleepy dog of mine leave something to be desired!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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I want my room back…..

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All I wanted to do was to go into my room and change, and THIS was what I ran into. My wife, my daughter, and Cassie exercising in my room. Cassie is in the foreground, Steph is at 12-1 o’clock, and Amanda is just got her legs sticking out. This takes place everyday in my room apparently, and the way the encourage me to leave makes me believe it is becoming a bit “cultish.”

And JUST when I think things could not be any weirder for me, Ben just came into my office, grabbed one of my collar tabs, and put it down his pajamas. When I asked him what he was doing, he pulled it out and started using it as a sword. My family seems to need a lot of therapy…..I am just too embarrassed to send them there with these issues.
So I guess I need to just live in my little world. My office used to be my sanctuary, yet now they invade it at will. They already have my bedroom, and soon I am sure they will want me to be drinking whatever they are. I will have none of it.
I am doing fine without the insanity, and intend to win the Biggest Loser without it anyway. But for now it is off to make myself a vodka tonic. Life is stressful enough. And there is nothing like a little night cap to end the day. I will drink it as I contemplate the torturous events taking over my room.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Tales from home……..

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Well I am finally home and it is a good thing too. I am not too tired, but it is good to be amongst the chaos that I not only completely understand, but that I am responsible for as well. I was able to arrive home, get a shower, and then go pick up the Bishop for dinner, since he had also driven over from Illinois. (He lives in Ohio)

Our gathering tonight was just to be social. He works hard enough, and we want him to just get refreshed when he is here. We always get him a hotel room, and then we took him to dinner. We didn’t talk business, we just goof around. It was Fr. PT and his wife Jewel, my wife, Ben, Scott and Cassie, and our Parish Intern Robert, his wife Mary Ann and their son Kaleb! It was good food and good times. AND it was nice to just have dinner with an old friend and not have to do any work.
But Jewel wanted a picture of the Bishop and clergy after the dinner, to which he replied, “I’d rather have my picture taken with the women!” He sees US all the time, but she got her way….he took his picture with us. But not to be outdone, I took the one you see here….with our wives and Cassie. It clearly is a better picture than the one with us, and I hope you enjoy it!
We however will be working soon enough. The Bishop is back at the hotel and we will be meeting with our clergy tomorrow morning at St. Patrick’s. It is probably going to be hard for him, as this is now a larger gathering of the same sorry lot he had dinner with tonight. But it will be his burden to bear…….they just work with me, but they are HIS clergy!
I will take him to lunch tomorrow before he heads back to Ohio to help ease his pain. It is just great to have him here.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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It is over…..

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After having a mustache since I was about 18 (I am 25 now….I mean 50) tonight was the last straw. No one meant anything by it, because the people around me really do like me, but tonight it was just too much.

You see, after my stroke in April of 1998 one of my eyelashes got a white spot on it…..no big deal, right? No, not really. But I cannot tell you how many times people have politely told me I have “something in my eye.” LOTS OF TIMES! But in truth, I don’t.
THEN, my face started to loose hair and pigment, no, not in a Michael Jackson sort of way, but it WAS noticeable…..and ALL of it was on the one side….the side of the eyelash. Of course I mentioned this to my neurologist who said, “I think it is unrelated to the stroke.” Which led me to wonder why I go to doctors, since that is the the “coincidence of the century!”
But tonight the comments were about my mustache. The loss of pigment has invaded one side and lots of people mention it. But tonight, here in Peoria, one guy complimented me as if it was on purpose. It caught my attention. As a matter of fact, a few people mentioned it. And when I mentioned it to the Bishop, who is a long-time close friend, he said it actually looks like I have half a mustache and shave the other half. I thought he was joking.
But upon the return to my hotel room, one of my players had posted some pictures of me at the lacrosse banquet about a month ago, and do you know what? The bishop wasn’t joking. I looked absolutely stupid. And I considered my options…..but only for about 3 seconds. I went right into the bathroom and shaved it off. The hair on my head will be next, but please do not tell my wife.
And in truth, it was not as traumatic as I thought it would be. I suppose looking stupid has it’s privileges! But it will NOT come back until either all my hair loses its pigment or someone staples a new one to my face. I do look different, but thank God people will no longer thing that I am some type of “fashion weirdo” anymore!
Thank God I had a razor and clearly the Brian Urlacher jersey helped to ease the pain!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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A preemptive strike………

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Although I was to leave first thing in the morning for Peoria (I have an ordination there on Saturday), I am savvy enough to know when packing too much into one day is a bad idea. The last few weeks, but particularly the last few days, have been close to overload. So I decided to head to Illinois tonight.

And, it has been a good idea. I have A LOT to do, and I am now in my hotel room and able to do it without distraction. In addition to that, as you can see, I like the room COLD. (Amanda hates such things.) But for 2 nights I will ice it up and sleep hopefully like a baby! Or at least like a polar bear.
The good news is that it will make the trip a lot less stressful, and I can get some things done tonight as well as in the morning, and do so without having to worry about the drive and the day. I can work a bit tonight, get a good night’s sleep, and still get a lot done in the morning. PLUS, after the ordination and festivities, I should have a few more hours tomorrow night to work too! The Bishop will be heading back to Indiana on Sunday and Monday, so getting ahead of the work will not be a bad thing.
But for now I think I will stand over the air conditioner and breathe it all in! Please keep Greg Lynn in your prayers tomorrow as he will be ordained a priest. It will be a big day.
Thankfully, with some good rest, I should be at my best!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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End of the rope……

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I always wondered where the expression, “I am at the end of my rope” came from, but I am certain it does not matter…..I am at the end of my rope.

I think I just need some rest. There is just too much happening around me, and quite honestly I am not sure what to do with all of it. It is not that I am indecisive, or even incapable, it’s that it is just more than is healthy for me to deal with at the moment. PLUS, most of what is causing all this will wait for me (a lot of it will wait forever too!) So in the interest of health and even more importantly, sanity, I have decided to “let it ride”. (I think that is a gambling term, but I am not sure…….I have never been a gambler)
So I have set aside the day and hit the reset button as it were…..Dear Lord I hope it reboots! But the big part is setting things aside before they get out of control. I just need to regroup, reframe, and meet all of it with a fresh perspective in the morning.
At least that’s the plan!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Of potpourri and confusion……..

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I had a long day, and it would have been a rough day if I did not have a sense of humor……or at least that is what I would like to believe.

I left this morning for St. Louis. Stephanie’s buddy Cassie (our second daughter) went home to Missouri a few weeks ago and I went to pick her back up today and bring her back to Indiana. It’s about 10 hours of driving, which seems long, but is something I enjoy.
The trip there was really uneventful. As regular readers know, I am weaning off some medicines and I wasn’t worried about this long a trip, but more curious as to how I would do. Even on meds, being tired or stressed can cause symptoms to arise……nothing like walking into a fountain or yelling at statues, this is stroke recovery, not college…but I digress.
Anyway I was quite proud by the half-way point. No runs, no hits, no errors as they say in baseball…..a real good day. But during the second half things went a bit awry. I made a couple of real Bozo-type turns despite having a Tom Tom. I then spoke to my wife on the phone who was irritated because she could no hear my on my hands-free phone, so I pulled into a gas station…..my low fuel light was on and talked to her while I pumped gas. Cassie went in to the bathrooms.
But after I pumped the gas I decided that I ought to go too, so I headed into the restroom. It was then that I got screwed up. First of all, this was a truck stop, and I wondered what kind when I saw the potpourri on the counter. The two, there were no urinals at all…..man was that confusing. I just didn’t understand. So when I went into the stall it was then I noticed the feminine hygiene thingys and was horrified. THANK GOD no one was in there! I ran right out and almost hit a guy heading into the men’s room across the hall.
NO POTPOURRI! I was safe, although he asked me how I liked the women’s room. I explained briefly about my stroke (not the meds) but then he confessed that he had done that same thing before. I thanked God right there for my brain injury (because that would have been my alibi for the police had I been caught in there!) otherwise I would have felt like a moron!
But we made it home with no further issues, or at least none that I can recall. Cassie thought it was hilarious, and that made me laugh……had I been alone it would have been frightening.
But I can see that this will be a challenge, but so far I am up to it….even after today. Tomorrow indeed will be another day!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Holes……

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Well I am guessing that it may be Independence Day for procrastinators today, and I would join them if I were not so far behind. My predicament has not totally been in my control, and that has been a big part of the problem, but I hope to do a large bit of catching up in the morning. As I will have plenty of time to make calls!

I however have become an expert of digging out of holes over the years, despite being a guy who really likes to be ahead of the game. I am glad I have that skill, but would be happy to use it less. With 50 years under my belt in this life I guess I need to admit that I am going to have to cooperate with other people!
The good news is that this is not unfamiliar territory. AND, I expect by the end of the week I should be all caught up and prepared to fall behind at any time beyond that point too. Life is like the ocean, it is only completely still in pictures.
I however intend to ride the waves……
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+