Photo-A-Day #3708

Today was the wake for Sr. Pat Harrington, one of the kindest people I have ever known. She was a teacher at my high school, Bishop Feehan. However, I never had her in class but I knew her very well. She was the advisor to Student Council yet I was only on that my Senior Year. She created the retreat called ECHO – Encountering Christ in Others which I went on later in High School. But from day one at Feehan Sr. Pat began learning every freshman student’s name. She knew us all and she loved us all. She saw the potential in each and every student and she always cultivated and challenged that potential.

The wake was at Bishop Feehan High School, 3 minutes from my home. I got there at 4:30 and already there was not a single place to park and the line stretched around the building and ended near the cafeteria entrance. It was a long wait but worth every single moment to be present to pay our respects. Sr. Pat was one of a kind and in her 45 years at Bishop Feehan her kindness touched so many people. The line never diminished the whole time I was there. More and more people came to say goodbye to this extraordinary woman. I saw old friends and we talked. But mostly I was alone with my thoughts, remembering Sr. Pat’s generosity, infectious laughter, humility and open-heartedness. I continue to tear up whenever I think of Sr. Pat and how future Feehan students will never have the privilege of knowing her. I am so lucky that I did.