Thursday, November 10, 2016
Neil and I served on a committee together and it was at the end of our work that he said to me, "Why don't you become a principal?". This began a friendship/mentor ship that I hope served us both. I try daily to emulate the beautiful way he could give it to you straight, but remove the sting of necessary truth with his kindness and grace. He came to meet me for lunch one day at Saint Thomas More Catholic School, where I was doing my administrative internship, and he pulled me over to sit on a bench in the lobby area. He asked simply, "What do you see?" I responded exactly the way he thought I would, "A trophy case, classroom doors, a bulletin board..." He held up his hand to stop me and asked, "Where is God? When people walk through these doors, they will see that you value sports, but where is God?". This moment, along with so many others like it, are burned in my memory and carried out in my daily ministry. I hope to make him proud in all that I do. I take comfort in the fact that Neil knew the answer to his own question and allowed his faith to guide him through each day... sitting on his porch at the beach, just talking to his God.
Kathy Sullivan
