Peter Moore and my father (Al Sr.) both share the same gift of celebrating their 50th Anniversaries to the Priesthood this year. After we celebrated with Peter and Sandra over the weekend of October 29th, all of the Zadig’s boarded a plane for Boston to share with my father over the weekend of November 5th. It was both a wonderful family reunion, and an opportunity to reflect on five decades of ministry. On Saturday, November 5, I preached at a 5 pm service that celebrated my father’s ordination anniversary, complete with clergy present from around that diocese. Sunday morning, I preached again at the main worship service, followed by a wonderful brunch for the entire congregation at a nearby club.

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was simply getting the entire  family together, how often does that happen in large families today?  One of my favorite moments was simply hearing daughter Wimberly repeatedly laughing hysterically with her first cousins. Sounds of laughter can be medicine for the soul!  Another family highlight came when as a family we decided to do a skit for my father. When we were young and going on road trips, my father would always lead us in that 1945 hit song sung by Bing Crosby, called McNamara’s Band. My father would lead us then we would all sing as we cruised down the highway. So at the brunch after church on Sunday, all 7 siblings and their children, with tambourines and other music making instruments sang and made music of our own!  It was a wonderful weekend.