Fr. Bernie

My first year of high school was at a Catholic prep school. It was a less than wonderful experience. I have never fit in at school and especially so at this one. Nearly everyone came from money and was very aware of who they should associate with and who they should shun. Most of my classes were forgettable and I only had two teachers worth remembering. Mr. Jeffers, who taught Math and knew one of my brothers and therefore called me Sis, was a wonderful, wonderful man. Uniquely hilarious. A favourite moment was in class someone said a curse word a little too loud, something like "What the hell..." and he said, "Hey hey hey! I got a picture of my wife and kids in my wallet and I don't want them hearing that kind of talk!" The other teacher was Father Bernie Carman, who taught, surprise, religion. He was warm and sweet and I liked him so much that I stayed after school to take Italian with a handful of students once a week or so. He had lived in Italy and been to the Vatican and in between lessons he would tell us little stories about life in Italy. Recently I was going through some old magazines and came across one that featured Fr. Bernie. I don't care for the Catholic Church and what they've done and continue to do, but Fr. Bernie was the kind of man that seemed to genuinely walk in the footsteps of Christ and lead a life of decency and compassion. Wherever he is now, I do hope he is still that same lovely man.