Thank you, Father!

Johnathon, my groom and I

As I mentioned in my last post, I was blessed to receive a hospital visit from one of my good friends, Johnathon Goff, who's currently a seminarian in New Orleans. He'll be a priest in 2 years and I'm so proud of him, he even was an altar server for our wedding.

Johnathon was in town visiting family and came to see me the day after my surgery and again the day I was being discharged. On the second visit he had Father Dennis Carver with him. They prayed with me and Fr. Carver gave me the Anointing of the Sick and my mother and I both received Communion. It was a very special moment and I felt so blessed to have visited with them that morning.

Father Carver

Have I mentioned yet the little cocktails I was being given while there? I get extremely nauseated from a lot of the pain medications so they kept me rotated between Lortabs and Morphine + Phenergan so I wouldn't get sick. I. Was. Loopy. 

So fast forward to Easter Sunday, I'd been out of the hospital 3 days. Kevin and I overslept through our normal Mass at St. Alphonsus, so I quickly remembered that we could catch the 10 am at St. Michael's in Biloxi. The church was so packed we had to sit in the window sill! 

As we're sitting through Mass, it hits me... "I think that's the priest that prayed with me in the hospital... I think..." So I whisper my discovery to Mr. K. He shushes me and I keep thinking. By the time Mass is over, I've convinced myself that it's definitely the same priest and I want to thank him again for praying with me and I wanted to introduce him to my husband. 

I hobble my stiff-necked-self through the crowd to get a good shot at shaking his hand before he's overwhelmed. I shake his hand and gush, "Father, thank you so much for praying with me in the hospital on Thursday! You have no idea how much that meant to me! Let me introduce you to my husband, this is Kevin." Not saying his name, the priest abruptly asks, "What hospital were you in?"

Thinking this guy must be crazy I say, "Uhh. Ocean Springs. I was the girl you visited with Johnathon, I'd just had surgery for Thyroid Cancer. This was on Thursday."

He thinks and then looks at me blankly and says he's got a terrible memory these days, so he may have, but he doesn't remember me. He told me he was glad I was up and and Mass either way and to have a Happy Easter. 

Father Greg Barras

Uh. Seriously? I was thinking... Does a priest do THAT much Anointing of the Sick that he wouldn't remember me from just a few days ago? 

A little embarrassed and upset, we hurry out of the church, grabbing a bulletin at the door. 

Telling Kev I couldn't believe Fr. Carver didn't remember me, I pick up the bulletin to read it and guess what I find out...

That wasn't Father Carver. That was Father Barras. Definitely not the same guy who prayed with me at the Hospital. Oh boy, you can just imagine that my husband had a good time retelling that story at our family lunch after church. I just feel a little guilty that I had Fr. Barras thinking he's losing his mind! HA! I included the best two pics I could find of each, you think they look alike, don't you?!

I also got confused last weekend and tried to argue with my family that it was a Catfish that killed The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, not a sting ray. Oops.

Have any of you ever done or said anything goofy after surgery?