Philadelphia -Saturday, 7 January 2017

Since I really hadn't eaten much the day before, I got up early to have breakfast before the mass. (The hors d'oeuvres were pretty well gone by the time the presentations were over.) The basillica was just around the corner from the Downtown Sheraton Hotel so it was an easy walk despite the snow. 

Again, the historical research team was seated right up front. It was a very moving service that was attended by nearly 1000 people. Especially emotional was the singing of Amazing Grace and the line, "I was once lost, but now am found."  The church was beautiful and still had Christmas decorations up. 

After the church service, we boarded a coach for a very harrowing drive to the cemetery for the Omega Service. The roads were very slippery and the procession of 15 coaches went very slowly, thank goodness. We saw a number of cars off the road. 

At the cemetery there was a small tent with some chairs that I was privileged to have had saved for me. It was blustery for sure. A number of the brothers of the fraternity spoke before the gravestone for Charles I. Brown was revealed. Charles Brown was buried in a pauper's grave with 46 other people. I want to go back this summer when we are in Philly to see the other side of the tombstone. Again, a very moving service with gratitude to all those who had worked on the case. 

 Mark Pacich, the International Historian, then uncovered the tombstone. 

We headed back to the hotel and I was interviewed by one of the fraternity brothers as to the process I followed for my research. Had a bit of lunch and waited for the car to go back to the airport. HOWEVER, in the midst of lunch I got word that my flight was cancelled. So it was into the alternative arrangements mode. I had thought about going to the airport and renting a car to drive home or just to sit and see if I could get on another flight. It was then that American Airlines called to say that I had been booked on a 9:30 flight Sunday morning. Checked back at the desk, retrieved my luggage, and went back to a new room. This one didn't have the cricket noise. 

Got into some comfy clothes and settled down to watch the football playoff games. About 9 I got hungry and ordered some wings and a beer. They forgot to put the beer on the tray and so I called about it. When it finally showed up there were 2. 

I really was clueless as to why the flight was cancelled because the snow had stopped around 3 and the roads were perfectly clear. The view from my room confirms it all.