Back to Pattaya

Since 2004, every visit to Pattaya has started the same way.  In a quiet, leafy graveyard at the back of St Niklaus Church is the grave of Fr Ray Brennan, who lies in the Redemptorist plot beside his friend, colleague and brother Redemptorist Fr Patrick Morrissey.  Each year we spend a moment there, place flowers for each, and try to remember amidst the pleasure of meeting all our old friends, that our visit is work and has a serious purpose.  On this, our eighth visit, we were accompanied as always by Fr Ray's devoted friend and PA, Khun Toy who has always generously found the time to join us for this visit.

But as Fr Ray was fond of saying 'choose a job you love and you will never do a day's work in your life'.  For me, it is the people.  If you work with people you like and respect, then work becomes a joy.  And coming back to Pattaya is always a joy.  An hour or two with Khun Toy catching up on news of old friends.  We will visit the Pattaya Orphanage tomorrow, and again on Saturday, if possible.  After we left Khun Toy, we found Audrey Williams sorting donated clothes outside CP, Luke with literally tonnes of donated rice inside.  Moments later, Khun Somnuk, Khun Jai, Khun Boonthawee.  Three wonderful women, devoted to the Fr Ray Foundation.  Minutes later, Fr Peter Pattarapong stopped his car to get out and say hello! although he was on his way to the keenly fought basketball final at the national disabled games.  Chonburi lost narrowly, but the Vocational School had graduates in the winning team, and in the teams which came second and third.

There are so many friends I cannot name them all.  We know more people here than we know in our home village.  In fairness, the Fr Ray Foundation Family is about ten times the size of our village, which has but 140 people, or so.  After a very interesting meeting with Fr Peter and Bro Denis, and another meeting to discuss film, especially a film about and of Fr Larry Patin, we retired to our room with faces aching happily with constant smiling.