Art Howe ’82 sent this to me yesterday…

“When I was visiting the College in early June, I stopped by to chat with Bill Placher, who told me that he was doing some work on one of the early fathers of the Christian church. I mentioned that my bride Kathie and I likely would be in Norcia, Italy (the birthplace of Benedict) in a couple of weeks. Bill alerted me that one or two of our alums might be in Norcia. Bryan Gonzales ’03 had been working as a lay employee at a Benedictine monastery in town. Bryan was finishing his time there to head onto to graduate studies in divinity in Vienna and Homer Twigg ’08 would be arriving to take his place.

When we were honeymooning in Umbria in late June, Kathie and I drove through Norcia en route to Sibillini National Park. Although I did not have a phone number or street address for Bryan and Homer, Bill Placher, back at Wabash, had pulled out a photo of the town square and had pointed out to the building where they would be working. That was enough for me to pick out the building and to walk in.

When we stopped in, both Bryan and Homer were there. Homer had just arrived a few days earlier and Bryan was about to leave the next week to head to Vienna for graduate school. Kathie and I enjoyed having lunch with them at a local restaurant, the Trattoria Tipica Dal Francese, where Bryan had become an adopted son of the owners. The meal was excellent. Norcia is famous for its meats and truffles. (The word for butcher in Italian is norcino, named after the town.)

While I had not met Bryan before, Homer and I first had crossed paths when I had introduced Buddhist monk Tan Jotipalo ’88 on his visit back to the College in November 2004. Back in April of this year I ran into Homer outside of Bill Placher’s office. We chatted about his time in studying abroad in India. When I asked him what he was planning to do after Wabash, he said that he didn’t yet know. Neither of us had anticipated that we would cross paths again in two months’ time in Norcia, Italy.”

It’s a small Wabash world, as I have said many times. Thanks Art!

Photo: Bryan, Homer, Art in Norcia, Italy.