I HAVE MY RELIGIOUS SIDE

Twice a year I go up to Albany, NY for a meeting of the NYSARC Board of Governors. I along with my cohorts represent the county of Suffolk in our quest to make a better life for those of us less fortunate, the victims of developmental disabilities.

Bill Leonardi

Along with my cohorts, one Bill Leonardi, C.E.O, of AHRC Suffolk Chapter, on which I serve on the Board of Directors, joins us up in Albany. In the spring it is a 2-day conference and in October it is a 3-day event. Either way, the events end by a stopover in The Bronx on Arthur Avenue for a good old-fashioned Italian Lunch. This is probably the highlight of the weekend. We take these luncheons very seriously and strive to have what we feel is a reward for hard work well done.

The other day as I was about to leave the agency after signing checks, I waved at Bill Leonardi in his office and he waved me in. He kidded me about a Facebook entry I made and that led to business somehow.

“Well Joe, I’ll probably leave early Saturday morning, once the meeting begins for the board of governors, after all, I don’t need to be there for it.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense for you to hang around, I’d leave too. Saturday is a holy day of obligation!”

Saint Arthur

This last statement takes Bill by surprise and you can see his eyes rise upward, as he desperately tries to figure out what day that is. Looking confused I know I got him, and take it a little further.

The 'Church'

“Yes, it is a holy day of obligation, the holy day of Arthur Avenue!”

Suddenly Bill explodes in laughter as he realizes what I’m doing.

“Boy, I went through all the holy days and couldn’t think of THAT one! The Feast of Saint Arthur!”

I wasn’t joking.