Every late August, and early September, I revisit my first Quaker meeting in Buffalo – the third Sunday in September 1993. I only know it was third Sunday because I was invited to stay for potluck which was always held third Sunday. I declined but left knowing I’d found my spiritual home.
Today, I woke up thinking about the Quakers who were there then and was inspired to share some stories about them. Louise Anzalone was my first thought and her husband Joe was my second. Louise was a kindergarten teacher and Joe was a school librarian. Both of them challenged my idea of what a Quaker was, and what ministry might look like.
In 1993, multiple piercings were uncommon, but Louise had pierced earrings all the way up the outer rim of both ears. Each one different. She and Joe were Bills /Sabres/ Bandits fans and on game Sundays, they came to meeting wearing matching team sweatshirts. The same went for every holiday. Halloween, Thanksgiving, always two theme-based sweatshirts.
Louise taught me about food ministry. Each potluck, she brought multiple dishes in avocado green countertop cookers—I still remember her mashed potatoes with cheese. She began baking Christmas cookies and freezing them in October, winding up with 30+ different kinds of cookies. People still remembered her cookie exchange parties. She collected nativities and had over 1000 of them.
Louise told stories about the kindergarten children in her inner-city school. My favorite was the jellybean story. A woman brought jellybeans to celebrate Easter. She handed the bag to Louise saying, “Don’t let my son eat the black ones. They cause cancer.” This story always made Louise chuckle. I thought Friends didn’t really celebrate holidays, nor go in for lots of jewelry, but Louise changed that notion.
Joe had an eidetic memory – he remembered everything. Every Sunday after meeting he would go to the downtown library, pick up 5-6 books, and read every single one. I still have a neatly typed (yes, typed) slip of paper brought me one Sunday with information about George Tannehill, an officer in the war of 1812. He thought I might know who he was. He remembered what you said, he remembered what he read and would regularly share some tidbit about YOUR interest found in his reading. They traveled extensively, driving all the way to Mexico over Easter break. Summers were reserved for travel abroad. When my son was learning the bagpipes, Joe brought him a Gaeta – a Spanish bagpipe that he and Louise had gotten on their travels. It’s still on Abe’s bedroom wall.
Joe and Louise had at least one Quaker story that they shared as a couple. They always said that Joan Baez (famous folk singer, now in her 80s) sang at their wedding. She did. She was 9.
I don’t remember either of them offering vocal ministry, but Joe’s perspective as Quaker historian, and Louise’s cooking and her humorous, slightly cynical, outlook and the way they hung together added much to our meeting. Louise died first, and Joe seemed lost without her. So were we.
My point in writing this is that it’s a big table – there’s room for everyone and their ministry – whatever it is. We need to stand with curiosity, wonder and gratitude for the myriad ways we all do human – and Quaker.