In Memorium to my Great Uncle, Father Robert West

Before I begin putting my thoughts about the Bible down (because I'm actually almost all the way through Genesis), I would like to first put into perspective and pay my respects to a man who inspired me who recently passed away. My great uncle Robert West was the first born child of eight other boys and one girl in the family. He was born in the early 1910's on a homestead outside of Outlook Mt. This was a time and place of hardship for many, and yet even through that hardship he found a way to want to become a priest of the Roman Catholic faith, and is one of the reasons I still go back to that church today. While I do not know his entire story or how he came to be the person that I knew, I do know what he represented, and how he affected my life.

Throughout my great 20 years of life there were 2 Father Robert's that I knew and understood. The first was what I had heard through the stories of my other family members, and the second was the one that I knew in his later years after he developed Alzheimer's. To begin with I will start with my family's account of Father Robert. Apparently back in the day my extended family (of which there is a lot of), despite their living very far apart would manage to have a family reunion every summer. The extended family of which I would later become a part of would all flock back to the tiny town of Outlook Montana to spend time telling stories, singing songs, and generally reveling in the comfort of family, many times around a campfire. Now often times when you think of Roman Catholic priests you think of men stuck at the church praying all the time and not really active members of the community. While that generalization is maybe an over-exaggeration of what most people really think of pastors and priests, it does display some truth of what many people think. If anything though, Father Robert was almost the exact opposite of that very generalization. He was, for lack of better words, the life of the party. Father Robert was the one who would tell the best stories or sing the loudest Irish drinking songs. I have one memory of him from when I was very young and I was sitting on his lap. This was a similar family gathering, and all I can remember is that stories were being told, and everybody just seemed to be happy. Now I know that that sounds very mushy gushy familyish stuff, but in reality it's one of those moments that just stuck with me and truly inspires me to not only keep my sense of family about me but also to attempt to spread that sense of family to the people I surround myself with.

The second Father Robert that I knew was the one deep into the disease of Alzheimer's. Many people when they get Alzheimer's become scared and withdrawn. They forget who they are and what used to be important to them. They truly become a different person. About five years ago me, my dad, sister and grandma all took a trip to Richardton North Dakota, where Father Robert was living at the Abbey there. We made the trip because we knew that he was getting worse and worse every year and that we wouldn't have him for much longer. This was the point where I truly came to admire my great uncle, because before I had just kind of thought of him as another part of my very large family. When we went to see him I kind of expected to see an old man who was scared and confused because of his Alzheimer's, but instead we saw a lively old man who was delighted to see us and absolutely loved the fact that we were there. Even though he couldn't remember me and my sister's names, he still smiled at us and had huge hugs for us. Because it wasn't about knowing who we were or that we were family, it was about the fact that we were young and still had a lot to look forward to. In some way I believe that despite his Alzheimer's he was still able to take from a lifetime of teaching and representing happiness, and recognizing something wonderful such as two young teenagers, and be able have happiness in the fact that he could still get to observe and influence such young life. If you saw a picture of him, there was no way to know that he was the type of man who's good mood and happiness in life was absolutely infectious. All it would take though was a few minute's of his time for him to truly rub off a lifetime of happiness.

Now whether or not Father Robert drew this type of attitude from the fact that he was a part of the priesthood or not, I do not know. But what I do know is that in some way the Bible had to be some sort of contributor. Whether it was directly or indirectly doesn't matter for through him and others I learned a way of life that is happiness, and what more can you ask for.

On a side note, I would like to say that I know this story represents to a certain extent, my beliefs about religion and the Bible, and I would like to apologize to Dr. Sexson who explicitly asked us to keep this class and this blog academic. This blog post was more for me to remember my great uncle, whose funeral I was not able to make it to.