Francis X. Hezel, SJ – Where’s Fran?

From Retreat to Recovery: A Week in the Hospital

I must have fallen hard when I arose from bed on Monday morning, Sept 30. We could blame it on the wet surface (as I do), or harbor the suspicion that this was a cardiac arrest (as the doctors seemed to believe). In any case, I found myself sprawled on the floor for the next six hours. I just didn’t have the muscle strength to lift myself back on the bed, nor could I reach my cell phone as time passed and the calls increased. Finally, someone opened the door, gasped at the sight of the old priest on the floor, and called the ambulance.

If ever there was anyone stamped with a “made in New York” sticker, it was Pat Sullivan. Yes, he might have once been a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and forever afterwards mourned their loss. Even so, he identified as a New Yorker. As I recall, it was a Yankees baseball cap he was wearing when he was sitting at a table, head bowed and listening to classical music as he pondered how to respond to the storm damage at our seminary on Guam.

On Sunday morning just before the Pohnpeian mass I say each week, I stopped to greet Jefferson, the man who has regularly stood at the door to welcome any and all into the church. “You look very thin,” I told him. It had been a few weeks since I had last seen him. “Cancer,” he said, “in the head, stomach and chest.”

For nearly four decades Micronesian Seminar (usually known as MicSem) was the center of my life. As we went about our mission of promoting public discussion and reflection on key issues in Micronesian life, we managed to build up a library. Over the years it grew from a few shelves of books on the islands to an internationally recognized collection with 24,000 print titles, 82,000 historical photos, 800 videos, and 22,000 audio tracks.

I wish this were a personal visit instead of a written greeting, but let this note with its brief update suffice until we do meet again.

Any honest update from me would have to deal with the challenges of getting old, but you’ve heard all this from guys like me before. Maybe you’re even going through it yourself. If so, you know that becoming an old-timer does take a bit of adjustment. Not only to the aches and pains in the joints, but other things are just as bothersome:

I always thought of Ken as a kid—but a big kid, for sure. He had that playful smile that made you feel that, sincere as he seemed, he might be stringing you along just a little bit. But the smile was real. The earliest vivid memory of him was sitting on the hull of our overturned boat with that triumphant smile as Xavier freshmen splashed in the water around him. The boat had been swamped by waves not too far from shore, but Ken and a couple of his buddies held tight to the food packages they had saved from the floor of the lagoon.

Back to Hawaii

There may have been no problem running down the Hudson, transiting to New Jersey railroad and checking into the hotel, it was a different story the next day a the airport. Check in was was no trouble, but the line for security defied belief. It was the longest I’ve ever been in, winding as it did around the entire terminal. The wait of an hour didn’t seem as long as the walk.

Family Time in the Adirondack Mountains

Within minutes of greeting my brother Rich and his wife Jan, we were in deep conversation. The same happened when I met my brother George at the beach just before dinner. In fact, George was so caught up that he volunteered to join us for dinner that evening. We chatted about the usual family topics: What are the real family traits? Who got along well with whom when we were young? How have we changed over the years?

Francis X. Hezel, SJ, is a Jesuit priest who has lived and worked in Micronesia since 1963. At different times he has served as high school teacher, school administrator, pastor, and regional superior to the Jesuits of Micronesia. He spent thirty years directing the Micronesian Seminar, a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Pohnpei, Micronesia.

He has written and spoken widely about social change and its impact on island societies. He has also written several books on Micronesian history, including The First Taint of Civilization, Strangers in Their Own Land, and The New Shape of Old Island Cultures. His most recent book, Making Sense of Micronesia: The Logic of Pacific Island Culture, is available through University of Hawaii Press.

Author - Francis X. Hezel, SJ

From Retreat to Recovery: A Week in the Hospital

Pat Sullivan: From One Xavier High to Another

The Passing of a Devoted Dad

Reopening the Doors of MicSem

Christmas, 2023

Ken Urumolug: 1965-2023

Furlough to the Mainland IV

Furlough to the Mainland III