(no subject)
Sister Anna just called me this morning. Joe Pelham, who has lived at the Catholic Worker for over 25 years as a guest/worker, was killed on him motorcycle this morning. It's so unreal. We all always knew he'd be there forever, but no one on earth expected his forever to only be until he was 53. Joe's this big, gruff guy, who's honestly a pain in the neck sometimes. He loves fishing because, well, he loves it, but also because he loves to provide the Worker house with fresh fish, and because he loves to get out on his motorcycle and ride as far as he can. He doesn't even like to eat fish. He loves to brag about everything he can do, all his adventures, and he especially loves to include gory details about injuries or whatever that are likely to make young women (like me) squirm because we don't like gory stories. He gets a kick out of it, in a hilarious way. He's super hard-of-hearing, so you pretty much have to yell when you talk to him. And he can usually hear men better than he can hear women; I don't know how he's survived in a house of primarily women for the past few decades. Well, I do know- he just keeps talking, and doesn't always wait for you to do your part in the conversation. :) I know some of this makes him sound like a bit of a jerk, but he really isn't. He does so much for that house, provides so much in food, company, house repairs, everything. He loves kids so much, which you would never expect from this gruff personality he presents, but he's such a softie for babies. His role at the Worker is one of the things I love about the Worker in general- there isn't a need for strict roles for everyone. Joe first lived at the soup kitchen, when it was housed next door to the Worker. When that building got sold, he moved into the Worker house. He's more than a guest- he doesn't have the same requirements of the guests, and he pays some rent, and he doesn't have dish nights or chores assigned to him. But he's not an all-out worker, either. He doesn't do house coverage, or go the the worker meetings, or any of that. He exists just as his own entity, the one and only person who can fit in the role of the needed Joe Pelham. The only Big Joe. When my Joe first moved in, they all called him Little Joe at first, and Anna still calls him Joseph, to distinguish him from Big Joe. And my Joe is in Iowa for the long weekend, so I can't even call him to tell him. I sent him an email telling him to call me, that it's important. He may have to call me at work this afternoon. Joe loves Big Joe so much, looks up to him so much, and brags about all the things he's learned from him- how to make fishing flies, how to build a camping stove out of tuna cans, so many handyman things. It's going to be a big loss for Joe when he hears. Anna asked me to do house coverage tomorrow night, so I'll do that. She and Jennifer are going to go up to the Waterfalls cabin to be on their own for the weekend. It's just so sad- it doesn't feel like it should be Joe's time to go, not yet.