Sunday, July 17, 2011

A Lesson for Sinatra, an insight for all of us

Bob Greene over at CNN has a nice little story about Frank Sinatra, and his friendship with Pasquale "Patsy" Scognamillo who owned what became known in the 1950's as the singer's favorite restaurant.  It seems that the men became friends when both were about to make it big, Frank in entertainment, and Patsy with his own popular restaurant.  Then, when Sinatra's career tanked for a time in the early 1950's, Patsy and his restaurant became sources of comfort and support.

Patsy's grandson still runs that restaurant, and the family recounts this time justifiably with great pride. Greene writes,
 A person recalls how he is treated not when he is on top of the world, undefeated, but when he is at his lowest, thinking he will never again see the sun.
 This is such a good insight for all people of faith.  Not only do we ourselves remember how we were treated when we were down, it is a reminder about how we treat others when they are most in need.  As Greene points out, many people didn't want to be seen with Sinatra during his "down" time, but Patsy reacted with generosity and compassion.  That's a good lesson for all of us, especially those of us who are deacons.

Read the whole story here.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Deacon Bill -

    Thanks for your most interesting post. I have a small connection with Mr. Sinatra. My grandfather, John Murphy of Jersey City, had a very close friend - Ms. Lillian Smith (who lived to 102!) Ms. Smith was Dolly Sinatra's (Frank's mom) maid of honor. From my conversations with Lilly, I found out that Mr Sinatra was quite a generous man - especially with religious nuns who resided in Jersey City and Hoboken - keeping them above water with gifts of money and cars.

    God bless you and your ministry!

    Best regards,
    Deacon Brian

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  2. Dear Deacon Brian,

    Thanks so much for the added detail! God bless you, too, in your life and ministry.

    Bill

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