Remembering Lou Affinito one final time

Lou Affinito died at 12:45 Sunday morning, August 23d, after a period of time at Connecticut Hospice. He ended his sojourn here on earth on the anniversary of his mother's death many years before. It was the end of a long battle that began around April 2008 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. His wife, his children, and his family suffered with him through the long battle which was reportedly horrifyingly heart-rending toward the end. His wake was held in Hamden Connecticut on Monday the 24th, with hundreds of friends, families, fellow church members, and co-workers creating a constant four-hour stream of care and grief. His memorial Mass was celebrated at Ascension Church in Hamden on Tuesday, August 25th, with interment in West Haven in a mausoleum near his parents and his brother in law. Even his dear friend Frank Faggio rests there.

I knew then that Ted Kennedy would soon be following Lou in death. Kennedy had been diagnosed at about the same time as Lou with the same kind of tumor. And today I watched the Senator's funeral with rapt attention, feeling a strange kind of identification with those involved. One cannot help but notice that the tumor was no respecter of position. And I couldn't help but be aware that Mrs. Kennedy would confess, along with Lou's wife, that she is exhausted and bereft. The suffering has ended for Lou and for the Senator. The people left behind deserve and have my deepest sympathy.